The federal government has released its “National balance sheet and financial flow accounts, fourth quarter 2014” and it shows Canadian’s continue to increase their debt burden.
Stats for the 3rd quarter of 2014 show a 1.1% increase in total household credit market debt:
Total household credit market debt (consumer credit, mortgage, and non-mortgage loans) stood at $1,825 billion at the end of the fourth quarter, an increase of 1.1% from the previous quarter. Consumer credit debt was $519 billion, up 0.8%, while mortgage debt advanced 1.2% to $1,184 billion.
For the third consecutive quarter, disposable income increased at a slower rate than household credit market debt. As a result, leverage, as measured by household credit market debt to disposable income, reached a new high of 163.3% in the fourth quarter. In other words, households held roughly $1.63 of credit market debt for every dollar of disposable income in the fourth quarter.
You can read the full report here.
For more analysis, see this article in the Vancouver Sun and this article from Global News.