Are adjustable rate mortgages common in Canada?
You can also let your rate float with the market, which is called a variable rate mortgage.
The mortgage market was very tightly regulated to really only permit the 30-year fixed-rate mortgages until 2002.
Anyone who has taken a five-minute look at the real estate market in any major US city can see those market distortions plain as day.
The U.S. has been heavily subsiding mortgages since the great Depression, through programs such as FHA. Banks would not be willing to loan people money at such low rates over 30 years unless the government and taxpayers backed the loan.
It's not at all clear whether the policy actually helps ownership.