Since the federal mortgage stress test rolled out in 2018, a small percentage of mortgage renewers have been trapped with their current lender, like a bad arranged marriage. Government policy effectively blocked uninsured borrowers with higher debt ratios from changing lenders to get a better deal.

Our banking regulator, the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI), addressed that problem on Thursday, but with stipulations. Here’s how things went down:

Seven years back, the feds started making uninsured mortgagors prove they could afford payments based on rates at least 200 basis points higher than the rate they actually paid. This “stress test” was key in preventing borrowing excesses and preparing borrowers for the big rate spike in 2022-’23.

But there was a nasty side effect. For some borrowers who accumulated debt — for good, bad or unavoidable reasons — the stress test meant they could no longer pass lenders’ debt-ratio tests.