A national group of lenders is calling on the federal government to make it easier for immigrants and young people to buy their own homes.

Paul Grewal, chair of the Canadian Institute of Mortgage Brokers and Lenders, said there are hundred of thousands of new Canadians who would like to buy a home but can't under the present rules.

"They are immigrants. Not all of them have established job histories or credit ratings in Canada," Grewal said at the group's national conference in Montreal on Sunday.

He said it would be easier for new immigrants to get mortgages if the government encouraged competition in the mortgage market, which could in turn lead to more specialized lending services.

Grewal also wants Ottawa to increase the amount of money people can borrow from their RRSP to put a down payment on a house. The current limit is $20,000, but he'd like to see it climb to $25,000.

"It was the previous Conservative government that had introduced that concept of using your RRSP as down payment, and we'd like them to improve upon it to reflect the increase in today's mortgage prices and home prices," he said. 

Flaherty says he will consider request

Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, who attended Sunday's meeting, agreed more competition in the mortgage market would make things easier for buyers and said he would consider the suggestions.

"I won't speculate on the odds. It's a request that they've made and we will consider it as part of the pre-budget work that we do, and the budget decision making process," he said.

According to the Canadian Institute of Mortgage Brokers and Lenders, mortgage lending is expected to grow by 10.8 per cent in 2006 for a year-end total of $730 billion.

Further growth of 10.5 per cent is forecasted for 2007 for a Canadian mortgage credit of $808 billion by year-end.