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The Mortgage Renewal Wave Just Peaked — Here's What the Data Actually Shows

Published August 30, 2026 For three years, "the mortgage renewal wall" has been the scariest phrase in Canadian personal finance — the idea that a flood of ultra-cheap, pandemic-era mortgages would come due at much higher rates and trigger a wave of forced sales. That wall is now mostly behind us. Two new 2026 surveys, one from Royal LePage and one from Rates.ca, show what actually happened when it hit. The short version: it hurt, budgets tightened hard for a lot of people, but the mass default many feared simply didn't show up. The last big group is renewing right now Royal LePage's 2026 Mortgage Renewal Survey, released August 19 and based on a Leger poll of 1,127 Canadians renewing this year, pins down where things stand: about 12% of all outstanding Canadian mortgages are five-year, fixed-payment loans taken out during the 2020–2022 ultra-low-rate window, and this is their last major renewal wave. The Bank of Canada's overnight rate sat at just 0.25% through m...
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Trump Trial Judge Seals the Courtroom to Unleash on MAGA Lawyer


In a dramatic turn of events during Donald Trump’s criminal trial in Manhattan, Judge Juan Merchan suddenly sealed the courtroom on Monday afternoon. The reason? A heated confrontation with Robert Costello, a MAGA-friendly lawyer who played a key role in the attempted backchannel between Michael Cohen and the Trump White House in 2018.

Costello, a former prosecutor, had been reprimanded for outbursts in court whenever he was interrupted or told not to answer a question that had been objected to and sustained. As tensions escalated, Costello began to stare down the judge. Merchan took action, ordering the jury out of the room and addressing Costello directly: “Mr. Costello, I’d like to discuss proper decorum in my courtroom, OK?”.

Despite the warning, Costello continued to push boundaries. When Merchan turned around, he caught Costello staring at him again. Frustrated, the judge ordered security to seal the courtroom and ejected all journalists so he could give Costello a dressing down. When the journalists returned, Costello’s face had turned beet red, and he continued to answer questions from defense lawyer Emil Bove about his minor role in the New York criminal case against the former president.

Costello’s testimony also shed light on Michael Cohen’s behavior after the FBI raided his apartment in search of evidence related to a campaign finance crime. According to Costello, Cohen was “suicidal that day and acting very manic.” Costello had advised Cohen that cooperating with the Southern District of New York and providing truthful information about Donald Trump would resolve his legal problems by the end of the week.

The courtroom drama continues, and the clash between the judge and the MAGA lawyer adds another layer of intensity to Trump’s trial. Stay tuned for further developments as this high-stakes legal battle unfolds.

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