Canada Housing Trust™ No. 1 Completes $10B Public Offering

On September 24, 2008, Canada Housing Trust™ No. 1, a special purpose securitization trust, completed a two-tranche debt financing consisting of the issuance of 3.55 per cent Canada Mortgage Bonds, Series 22, in an aggregate principal amount of $8 billion, and 3.95 per cent Canada Mortgage Bonds, Series 15 (Re-Opening), in an aggregate principal amount of $2 billion, for a combined total of $10 billion of Canada Mortgage Bonds, which were provided with Canada's sovereign guarantee through Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).

CMHC was represented in-house by Reem Hindieh, Marc-André Sirois and Cezary Fudali, who were assisted by Borden Ladner Gervais LLP, counsel to CMHC and special counsel to the trust, with a team that included Rosalind Morrow, Terence Lui and Habeeb Syed (corporate and securities), Stephen Redican, Gus Karantzoulis, Alexander Singh and Tiffany Murray (banking and financial services) and Larissa Tkachenko (tax) in Toronto and Johanne Thomas (civil) in Montréal.

In the United States, CMHC and the trust were represented by Kevin Keogh, Sang Ji, Terry O'Brien and Gerret Baur of White & Case LLP.

The underwriting syndicate was led by CIBC World Markets Inc., BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc., Merrill Lynch Canada Inc., RBC Dominion Securities Inc. and The Toronto-Dominion Bank (for Series 22), and led by BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc., CIBC World Markets Inc., Merrill Lynch Canada Inc., RBC Dominion Securities Inc. and The Toronto-Dominion Bank (for Series 15). Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP represented the underwriters, with a team that consisted of Carol Pennycook and Sonny Bhalla (corporate and securities) and Ron Wilson (tax) in Toronto, Scott Tayne (corporate and securities) and Scott Semer (tax) in New York.