Canadians purchasing energy-efficient homes or improving existing homes to be energy-efficient will be rewarded under a new program announced today by Genworth Financial Canada.

The company's new Energy-Efficient Housing program provides a 10 percent premium refund on Genworth mortgage insurance to homebuyers purchasing qualifying homes with low down payment mortgages, and to homeowners refinancing to renovate existing homes to be more energy efficient.

Participants also get access to Genworth's Homebuyer Privileges(TM)(*), an on-line discount program for commonly purchased household items such as major appliances, moving services, computers and more.

To make the program even more attractive, Genworth is making it available on loans with up to 35-year amortization periods at standard mortgage insurance premium rates.

"Energy costs in Canada were up more than 32 percent in 2005 alone, and the Energy-Efficient Housing program will help homeowners cope with those increasing costs and create an incentive to purchase energy-efficient homes," said Peter Vukanovich, President of Genworth Financial Canada. "Genworth is constantly looking for new and better ways to help make homeownership more affordable, and this is one more way to help make that possible."

To qualify for the refund, homeowners must have either a Genworth-insured mortgage on qualifying newly constructed homes, or a Genworth-insured refinance mortgage on an existing home with qualifying(xx) energy-efficiency improvements. New homes must have been purchased, and improvements for existing homes funded, on or after January 1, 2005.

Participants apply for their mortgage insurance refund by completing an application available on the Genworth Financial Canada website, www.genworth.ca or by contacting their lender for more details.

"Genworth is committed to serving Canadian homebuyers," said Vukanovich. "With new programs like this, and products that enable them to put as little as five percent down while benefiting from quicker loan approvals and access to low interest rates, we're helping to make their dreams of homeownership come true."

(*) Homebuyer Privileges(TM) is a Genworth program available only to

customers of participating financial institutions.

(xx) New homes must have a rating of 77+ or R2000 from the EnerGuide for

Houses created by the Office of Energy Efficiency of Natural

Resources Canada. Renovations to an existing home must increase its

EnerGuide rating at least five points to a minimum rating of 40.

About Genworth Financial Canada:

Genworth Financial Canada (formerly GE Mortgage Insurance Canada) is the private sector supplier of mortgage insurance in Canada. Genworth works with lenders, mortgage brokers, real estate agents and builders to make homeownership more affordable and accessible anywhere in Canada. The company combines global experience in mortgage insurance with technological and service leadership to deliver innovation to the mortgage marketplace.

Genworth Financial (NYSE: GNW) is a leading insurance holding company, serving the lifestyle protection, retirement income, investment and mortgage insurance needs of more than 15 million customers in 24 countries, including the U.S., Canada, Australia, Japan, the U.K. and more than a dozen European countries.

Additional information about Genworth Financial Canada is available at www.genworth.ca or through mortgage lenders.

For further information: Media Contact: Sherri Leclair, (905) 287-5408 or sherri.leclair@genworth.com

Source: newswire