Director of operations for a large oil company should be a job with great pay and perks. Do Canadian tax laws permit a deduction for mortgage interest expense? If not, then there is little advantage to buy. If it does, then the logic to buy is in part for the tax deductions.

One possibility would be to get the company to pay for housing, even if it’s in trade for some income. That way if there is a downturn of if he’s cut lose, he doesn’t have a mortgage to worry about.