The Globe and Mail reports in its Tuesday, Nov. 29, edition that the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions says lenders need to be more vigilant than ever as mortgage debt rises. The Globe's Brent Jang writes that OSFI's Jeremy Rudin says, "That growth in mortgage debt is particularly evident among highly indebted households -- households that have less capacity to cope financially with a loss of income or an increase in interest rates." Mr. Rudin says it is the job of the regulator that he heads, the OSFI, "to get out in front of the risks" encountered by lenders and mortgage insurers, which could suffer significant losses should there be a downturn. He says, "Recognizing these elevated financial risks and vulnerabilities ... we indicated [in July] that we were tightening our expectations and increasing scrutiny around residential mortgage underwriting practices." In October, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. issued its "red warning" for the country's real estate market as a whole. CMHC cautioned that with many suburbs near Vancouver and Toronto already seeing prices spike, pressure is spreading even farther out as some buyers search for homes in bedroom communities.