Canada's mortgage industry association says tougher mortgage qualification standards introduced last April have worked to reduce Canadian debt, and may have made the stricter rules outlined this week unnecessary.

A report by the Canadian Association of Accredited Mortgage Professionals says new standards implemented last year have disqualified potential borrowers who would have otherwise entered the market.

Among many changes implemented in April 2010 was a requirement that all borrowers must be approved for a five-year fixed-rate mortgage, whether they opt to obtain a mortgage on those terms or not.

The intent was to ensure that Canadians weren't getting in over their heads in debt, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said at the time. He has since tightened the standards further by banning CMHC-insured mortgages of more than 30 years.

CAAMP says the move may be unnecessary because the April changes have already had an effect. Canadians' housing debt ratio has edged down to 28.2 per cent in the second half of the year from 28.9 per cent for the full year, the group said Wednesday.

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