Household debt ticks lower but still near record high

OTTAWA — The amount Canadians owe compared to their income ticked lower in the first quarter but remained near record levels as mortgage debt continued to climb.

Statistics Canada said Wednesday the amount of household credit market debt as a proportion of household disposable income slipped to 166.9 per cent in the quarter compared with 167.2 per cent in the fourth quarter of last year.

That means that for every dollar of disposable income, Canadians owe about $1.67.

Economists and policy-makers have raised concerns about household debt and see it as a key risk to the economy.

Low interest rates have fuelled growth in household debt in recent years, but the central bank has been dropping hints that may be changing as the economy has improved.

Canadians should be thinking about what their finances would look like if interest rates were to rise, Bank of Canada governor Stephen Poloz said this week.

Royal Bank economist Laura Cooper said the cost of servicing debt has remained broadly unchanged in recent years, but households’ sensitivity to rate hikes is likely greater now than when rates have risen in the past.

“Non-mortgage debt tends to command higher borrowing rates and variable payments, leaving households increasingly vulnerable to a looming uptrend in interest rates,” Cooper wrote in a report.

Household income gained 0.9 per cent, Statistics Canada said, greater than the 0.7 per cent increase in household credit market debt.

Total debt, which includes consumer credit, and mortgage and non-mortgage loans, totalled $2.041 trillion in the first quarter. Mortgage debt represented 65.7 per cent of that, up from 65.6 per cent during the final three months of last year.

“While indebtedness has recently stabilized for Canada as a whole, it still remains elevated, leaving households particularly sensitive to rising rates,” said TD Bank economist Diana Petramala.