I will let your words speak for themselves. Income and debt (and their ratio) are material information for a mortgage applicaton. Deliberately hiding, inflating, under-reporting or misrepresenting are all potential acts of fraud. Stating that periodic payments are "remittances" to parents and not for mortgage payments is the definition of misrepresentation. And in case you are not familiar with the word, here is its definition:
"intentionally or sometimes negligently false representation made verbally, by conduct, or sometimes by nondisclosure or concealment and often for the purpose of deceiving, defrauding, or causing another to rely on it detrimentally"
Now, please read that definition 10 times and get back to me.
Look you're a good guy and I get where you're going. I never said that you should misrepresent yourself in any type of application, I have deliberately avoided mortgage fraud situations myself when brokers/bankers pressured me to classify a rental as an owner-occupier so that I could get the loan for my first condo. I refused to do so and the deal collapsed. My good judgement came back to benefit me a year later, after I got my PR, a better credit score and a better deal on my loan for that same condo.
But here's the thing, Canadian banks
*do not ask* you about your foreign income and liabilities. I've dealt with TD, RBC, BMO & a broker, and none of them did it. Why? Because they do not have the capabilities to verify it nor account for it. They only ask you about your Canadian income and liabilities, and they base their information on Canadian sources like your T4s and credit reports. That means you are free to base your Canadian finances based on your Canadian income/debt circumstances, and leave your foreign affairs in your foreign jurisdiction. Your ability to service your debts in separate jurisdictions is entirely on you. You're an adult - you don't need to go around telling every bank in the world you have a relationship with that you a mortgage in XYZ countries. Mortgage fraud doesn't come into the picture unless you're starting to hide stuff in the same jurisdiction where it applies. That bar is very high and underpinned by intent.
CMHC doesn't want Canadian banks babysitting millions of immigrant adults and messing up the economic cogwheels of Canada because they suddenly have to start factoring in people's foreign incomes and debts, and intersperse that within their Canadian loan application. That's actuarial-level stuff that would destroy the mortgage market. These bankers are paid not much above minimum wage for the simple task of verifying that your Canadian income vs Canadian debt payments don't exceed a 30-42% serviceability ratio (depending on the bank). If you start adding foreign income/debt into the mix, the housing market would likely collapse, as it would take months to approve loans.
If your bank isn't asking you for your foreign income/debts, or isn't able to take them into account, then you've performed all the disclosure required on your part. If you decide to force your foreign debt onto the bank into their underwriting process, you're really just shooting yourself in the foot. As I said, you don't need to disclose that you do cocaine at a job interview. Just keep some of these things to yourself.
