To fulfill the requirements, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac established programs to purchase $5 trillion in affordable housing loans, and encouraged lenders to relax underwriting standards to produce those loans.

Brownlee was concerned that such guarantees would encourage lenders to make loans at higher interest rates, with the knowledge that the provincial government would pay them if the farmers defaulted.

The guarantee was enough to encourage lenders across the country to issue mortgage loans to buyers whose down payments were less than 20 percent of the home's price.

A lower credit spread could make the market appear more impressed by a company's credit and thus encourage other lenders to accept lower interest rates when lending to the company.

The SWPC made direct loans, encouraged commercial lenders to make credit available to small businesses, and advocated for small businesses with federal agencies and larger corporate enterprises.

It encouraged lenders to ease borrowing by reducing the traditional down payment of 20 percent to a few percentage points or in some cases nothing at all.

The high number of cancellations was attributed to the rush to set up the program, which encouraged lenders to enroll borrowers first and ask questions later.

The popularity of mortgage-backed securities among investors encouraged lenders to lower their standards and offer more sub-prime mortgages (mortgages to high-risk borrowers with low credit ratings).

The two-pronged initiative was welcomed by community activists, who said it was an example of how to encourage both conventional and unconventional lenders to invest more deeply in community development.

Under the program, the Agency will provide credit enhancements to encourage private and public lenders to make new loans for affordable rental properties that meet program standards.