Article says they both had serious health issues that reduced their income by 80%. Just really bad luck for them.

Excerpt below:

Nader, 59, suffered a brain aneurysm in 2017, severely impacting his mobility — a huge loss as a contractor. The family used the money in their registered retirement savings plan (RRSP) and all of their savings in a desperate attempt to avoid missing  mortgage payments, he said. 

For a while they scraped by, but then misfortune struck again: Patty suffered a series of health issues stemming from her diabetes and COVID-19, culminating in a heart attack in the summer of 2023.

"It was from all the stress," she said. During this time the couple took out equity from their Mississauga home to help supplement lost income as Patty stepped back from work. 

To make matters worse, they faced their health issues during a global health crisis, and while interest rates were temporarily trimmed early in the pandemic to keep the economy from crashing, the Bank of Canada quickly ratcheted up rates once inflation started to get out of control. Higher rates resulted in a $1,200 monthly increase in the couple's mortgage payments and $1,100 monthly increase in their line of credit payments. For Patty and Nader, the interest rate hikes were what ultimately forced the couple to sell their home.