Canadian financial institutions have begun to slash their mortgage rates amid lower borrowing costs in the bond market and more competition for mortgage business.

BMO Bank of Montreal was the first to announce lower rates. Effective Wednesday, a five-year closed mortgage will carry a posted rate of 6.65%, a drop of a little more than a third of a percentage point.

Bigger cuts apply to shorter-term mortgages. BMO’s one-year closed mortgage drops 8/10ths of a percentage point to 6.15%. Its two- and three-year closed mortgages tumbled by 0.85 of a percentage point to 6.15%.

Laurentian Bank and Desjardins Group’s caisses populaires and credit unions in Quebec and Ontario announced similar cuts Wednesday, effective on Thursday. TD Canada Trust soon followed.