CMHC CEO decides to exit mortgage insurer
TORONTO Evan Siddall, the president and chief executive of the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp., announced his departure Tuesday to staff, ending a career at the country’s largest mortgage insurer that was often at odds with the housing industry.
In a letter seen by the Financial Post, Siddall did not set a firm leaving date, but his term, which was extended by two years in 2018 after an initial five, expires at the end of this year.
“It is most important to tell you that I have decided not to seek a renewal of my term as CEO,” Siddall wrote.
“Later this year, the board and government will announce their choice of a new president to lead our continued efforts. I will devote all of my energy to promoting an easy leadership transition.”
In some quarters, Siddall has been lauded for transforming CMHC from an insular and cautious institution that largely followed the housing industry’s demands for sales and price accumulation to one willing to knock the perceived wisdom that home ownership should be everyone’s goal while supporting reforms such as the mortgage stress tests needed to prevent financial ruin among young buyers. Others, such as the Canadian Real Estate Association and Mortgage Professionals Canada (MPC), are more likely to be happy to see the back of Siddall and how he criticized them on social media, in front of government panels and with the media.
It was “inappropriate” for the CMHC CEO to badger industry leaders in public, MPC president Paul Taylor told the Financial Post last year.
CREA CEO Michael Bourque said Siddall wasn’t constructive when he set homeowners against renters by calling renting a viable path to financial security.
Siddall came from outside the housing industry as an investment banker at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Lazard Ltd., with stints at Irving Oil Ltd. and as an adviser on financial regulations at the Bank of Canada.
An economic experience wider than just the housing industry appealed to a Harper government that was eager to stem any kind of a repeat of the financial crisis that had been triggered by lax housing lending in the U.S.
The late Jim Flaherty, finance minister at the time under the Harper government, appointed Siddall to the CMHC post in 2013.
He used what some would call a bully pulpit to note that low interest rates had led to over-investment in housing at the expense of the wider economy and research and development.
His biggest legacy at CMHC could well be how he changed its culture to perform as a supportive part of the entire economy, his willingness to stand up publicly to encourage debate about it, and whether that inspires other public servants to do the same.
It is most important to tell you that I have decided not to seek a renewal of my term as CEO.