Countrywide Financial Corp. is a regional bank holding company headquartered in New York City. Its principal subsidiary, Countrywide Bank, owns and operates more than 300 branches in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont, Rhode Island, Florida and Alabama. This case focuses on Countrywide Financial's mortgage lending unit only, which provides housing loans to customers. It specializes in the subprime market. In home loan finance, subprime lending means making loans to people who may have difficulty maintaining the repayment schedule, sometimes reflecting setbacks, such as unemployment, divorce, medical emergencies, etc. The U.S. subprime market of housing loans is becoming increasingly saturated and the client Countrywide Financial Corp. is thinking about entering the Canadian market as a way to grow. It would provide the same services, ideally under its own brand so as not to diversify its product. It does not know if this can be an effective growth strategy. It has asked you to help make a decision. What would you recommend?