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Finance Minister Jim Flaherty will announce new rules Tuesday aimed at preventing homebuyers from getting into financial difficulty when mortgage rates rise, CBC News has confirmed.

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty is set to impose new rules aimed at preventing homebuyers from getting in over their heads with mortgage debt. (Fred Chartrand/Canadian Press)Sources say the measures will discourage reckless real estate speculation, such as borrowing heavily for an investment property that is not the investor’s primary residence. Flaherty is also set to deter households from taking on more mortgage debt than they can afford to repay when interest rates rise, as they are expected to do later this year.

The finance minister is also expected to discourage people from raising cash by refinancing their homes with larger mortgages — again because they may not be able to make the payments at higher interest rates.

The Canadian Press reports that Flaherty will implement a debt affordability or income test that applicants must pass to qualify for mortgages insured by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.

Economists and policy-makers have expressed concern that very low interest rates have encouraged Canadians to take on too much debt.

In the case of home mortgages, there are fears that rising rates would force people to walk away from properties they could no longer afford — as happened in parts of the U.S. in 2007 and 2008 — flooding the market with homes for sale and causing prices to collapse.

With files from The Canadian Press

Canada’s Mike Ireland competes in the first race of the men’s 500-metre speedskating final at the Richmond Olympic Oval on Monday. (Alex Livesey/Getty Images)

Canadian speedskater Jeremy Wotherspoon’s last shot at Olympic gold is underway, after an ice-resurfacing glitch delayed the men’s 500-metre race Monday afternoon.

The race was postponed halfway through the first run, when the Olympia ice-resurfacing machine left a pile of snow and a puddle of water on the surface at the Richmond Olympic Oval in B.C. in the afternoon.

A similar problem delayed the women’s 3,000-metre race Sunday, but only for about 10 minutes. Canada’s Kristina Groves went on to win a bronze medal.

Monday’s delay came as 10 of 20 pairs had skated in the first of two men’s 500 races. The race initially started at 3:30 p.m. PT, and half the racers had competed before the ice hurt occurred.

As the race resumed just after 5:30 p.m., Wotherspoon skated well before a loud home crowd, finishing in 35.09 seconds.

For the final round, the skaters will be reseeded based on their first-round results.

Wotherspoon, the most decorated World Cup speedskater in history, has never won an Olympic gold medal. He is the current world-recorder holder in the 500, with a time of 34.03 seconds.

The 33-year-ancient from Red Deer, Alta., won a silver medal in the 500 at the 1998 Nagano Games, but stumbled off the start while defending his title at the Salt Lake Olympics in 2002. Wotherspoon finished ninth at the 2006 Winter Games in Turin.

Canadian forwards Caroline Ouellette (13) and Meghan Agosta celebrate after Agosta scored in the second period on Monday in Vancouver as Switzerland defender Sandra Thalmann reacts. (Chris O’Meara/Associated Press)

The Canadian women’s hockey team didn’t set any scoring records, but they went to a 2-0 record on Monday with a 10-1 win over Switzerland at UBC Thunderbird Arena.

Meghan Agosta scored her fourth and fifth goals of the Olympic tournament while Shannon Szabados made 11 saves as the Canadians kept their momentum after Saturday’s record-setting 18-0 win over Slovakia.

Canada’s next game — expected to be their largest test so far — is Wednesday when they meet Sweden at 2:30 p.m. PT.

More to come