Thank you everyone for the replies and the advice. While the situation is not completely resolved, my wife and I feel much better about our prospects at this stage. We were originally working with RBC Bank to secure a mortgage, not realizing that RBC is among the most conservative of all Canadian banks in terms of risk. Our mortgage officer was absolutely tireless in her efforts to try and get us beyond the 65% LTV requirement and we explored every conceivable option... to no avail.
I spoke to TD Canada Trust, and immediately our options improved. As long as one of the borrowers is a resident, they can offer a mortgage at 90% LTV (10% downpayment). We have an appointment with them tomorrow to review our application formally.
If that fails to yield the kind of results we're looking for, we've got a broker we're prepared to discuss options with, too.
I did speak to Genworth, as well. They only provide the insurance for mortgages (they do not originate them), but they gave me a bit more assurance that securing a mortgage was possible from a Canadian lender. Clearly, depending on the bank.
