• Listen to it on Apple Podcasts.
• Listen to it on Spotify.
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• Listen to it on Audible and Amazon Music​

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“Views from the Desk” Podcast

On this podcast, we often cover best practices that can not only help you now, but will also be relevant throughout your investment lifetime. But what if you also want an update on what is happening with your investments, the markets, and the economy right now?

To help me stay up-to-date on these topics, a great Canadian podcast that I listen to weekly is called “Views from the Desk” (Apple, Spotify, Direct).

They provide timely information for us Canadians on what is happening to our investments right now, as well as other key factors affecting us like changes to our interest rates, our inflation, and regulatory changes that we should know about.

The podcast is hosted by BMO ETFs. I’m a huge fan of theirs, I own a lot of BMO ETFs myself, and it’s a great free resource for both new and existing ETF investors.

I hope you check them out. All episodes are available for free in your favourite podcast player. Just search for “Views from the Desk” or click one of the links below:

• Apple Podcasts
• Spotify
• Directly from their Site

ETF Market Insights and BMO ETFs

Catch the latest episodes on YouTube Here.

There are so many opinions on how to invest your money today, but it can be hard to find credible voices to rely on in the world of finance and investing.

One resource I turn to every week is the ETF Market Insights YouTube channel, led by today’s episode sponsor, BMO ETFs.

Market Insights brings in industry experts and their weekly episodes cover the hottest themes like inflation, infrastructure, healthcare, and more. Tuning in helps me stay up-to-date on what’s happening so I can be a smarter investor. You can also submit your own ETF questions, to be answered on the show.

Do yourself a favour and subscribe on YouTube to ETF Market Insights, or visit ETFMarketInsights.com so you can be notified when future episodes go live.

BMO Asset Allocation ETFs:

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Today’s sponsor, BMO ETFs, offers these innovative all-in-one solutions with the BMO All-Equity ETF (ZEQT), BMO Growth ETF (ZGRO), BMO Balanced ETF (ZBAL), BMO Conservative ETF (ZCON), and more. BMO developed these to help provide investors with ETFs that offer broad diversification and are also low-cost and simple to use.

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BMO actually offers eight asset allocation ETFs. Learn more at BMOETFs.com.

Questions Covered:

1. Sean, what should Canadian mortgage holders know about these changes to the stress test, and what should they do ideally 6 months before their renewal date to avoid the ‘payment shock’ and take advantage of the switching flexibility that they now have?
   
   
2. A 30-year amortization is now available for all first-time buyers. While this lowers monthly payments, it increases total interest paid significantly. When does this actually make sense for a DIY investor who wants to reach FI quicker? And, even for those of us who aren’t first time homebuyers, how should we be thinking about the amortization that we choose for our mortgages? (whether we are getting a new mortgage, or have one coming up for renewal?)
   
   
3. Another piece of good news is that there is now an insured mortgage cap of $1.5 million. Can you explain what that is, and the implications that this has for us Canadians?
   
   
4. Let’s talk about whether we should choose a fixed rate vs variable rate mortgage. With everything that is going on in Canada right now, which ones make the most sense in your opinion?
5. Sean, you’re the resident mortgage expert for this podcast. You have been for years. Before we continue with the questions, I just wanted to let the listeners know that if they do have any questions for you, they can book a time, for free on your calendar, and that’s over at buildwealthcanada.ca/sean.
   
   And in case this is your first time hearing Sean on the show, Sean is a fully licensed mortgage broker, and the way that it works in Canada is that there is no fee or cost to get your mortgage through a mortgage broker like Sean, as they are paid by the lender.
   
   I have always used a mortgage broker myself when buying all our homes in the past, and that is what I recommend to friends and family as well as it lets you shop around all the different lenders in Canada so that you can actually get the best mortgage.
   
   So if you do decide to book a time with Sean and ask him your questions, or if you want his research on the best mortgages that he’s been able to find across the dozens of lenders that he constantly monitors all over Canada, all he asks is that you consider using him to help you get your mortgage when it’s time, there’s no obligation, it doesn’t cost you anything regardless, but this way it’s a nice courtesy to him since he is spending his time meeting with you, answering your questions, and researching the best mortgages for you. So that link again to speak to Sean for free is buildwealthcanada.ca/sean
   
   
6. What’s happening in the real estate market right now? (February 2026) Is it more of a buyer’s market or a seller’s market? And what should we expect if we’re considering buying or selling our home currently, here in Canada?
   
   
7. When does it make sense to break your mortgage? (If you  have a variable rate with a discount of less than 0.5% or a fixed rate of 5% or more, in many cases it makes sense. If that’s the case, please reach out and send me a screenshot of your current mortgage details and I can run the numbers, no-obligation and tell you how much you could save.)
   
   
8. All right, let’s dive into a bit more of an advanced topic: Right now, some listeners are looking at market valuations and feeling a bit of a fear as we are at all time highs in the market as we record this, and some may have a lump sum of cash building up, but are nervous about putting it all into the market at once, with these high valuations.
   
   Now, they could dollar-cost average in, where they invest that amount gradually over time instead of all at once, but some, depending on their situation, may feel that perhaps paying down their mortgage with that cash is the right way to go instead.
   
   I have a friend in this situation, and one option that I thought of, was that maybe doing a hybrid approach would work well for them, by using a re-advanceable mortgage.
   
   My logic here is that: They can use that cash to pay down the mortgage now—getting a guaranteed return by saving on interest—but because they get a re-advanceable mortgage, they get increased room in their home equity line of credit (their HELOC). And now, when we have a major market drop in the future, they have the option, to pull that money back out using their HELOC and invest it.
   
   If they do this all in their non-registered account, my understanding is that they can actually deduct the interest on their taxes as well.
   
   Now, I’m not saying that everybody should go out and do this, it was just something that I thought might be worth considering and researching more to see if it’s a good fit for them, and other listeners of the podcast. .
   
   For anybody new to this world of re-advanceable mortgages, can you give us a bit of a primer on that first? Then, what are your thoughts on this strategy, and how would one pull it off if they decided to do it?

Disclaimer:

This podcast and video is for information purposes. The information contained herein is not, and should not be construed as, investment, tax or legal advice to any party. Particular investments and/or trading strategies should be evaluated relative to the individual’s investment objectives and professional advice should be obtained with respect to any circumstance. Commissions, management fees and expenses all may be associated with investments in exchange traded funds. Please read the ETF Facts or simplified prospectus of the BMO ETFs before investing. Exchange traded funds are not guaranteed, their values change frequently and past performance may not be repeated. For a summary of the risks of an investment in the BMO ETFs, please see the specific risks set out in the BMO ETF’s simplified prospectus. BMO ETFs trade like stocks, fluctuate in market value and may trade at a discount to their net asset value, which may increase the risk of loss. Distributions are not guaranteed and are subject to change and/or elimination. BMO ETFs are managed by BMO Asset Management Inc., which is an investment fund manager and a portfolio manager, and a separate legal entity from Bank of Montreal. BMO Global Asset Management is a brand name under which BMO Asset Management Inc. and BMO Investments Inc. operate. “BMO” is a registered trademark of Bank of Montreal, used under licence..