Household debt outpaced income so far this year

Chief Economist Pedro Antunes explains how a technical recession, impacted by two quarters of negative economic growth, relates to inflation.

OTTAWA — Statistics Canada says the amount Canadian households owe outpaced income for the sixth straight quarter.

The agency says the seasonally adjusted ratio of household credit market debt as a proportion of household disposable rose 0.9 percentage points to 179.6 per cent in this first quarter of this year.

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In other words, there was roughly $1.80 in credit market debt for every dollar of household disposable income.

The seasonally adjusted household debt service ratio — measured as total obligated payments of principal and interest on credit market debt as a proportion of household disposable income — was 14.75 per cent in the first quarter of 2026, up from 14.68 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2025.

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The pace of seasonally adjusted household credit market borrowing, which includes consumer credit and mortgage and non-mortgage loans, totalled $35.5 billion in the first quarter, up from $34.5 billion in the last quarter of 2025.

The move came as net originations of mortgage loans fell to $22.6 billion in the quarter, compared with $26.3 billion in the fourth quarter of last year, offset by increases in consumer credit and non-mortgage debt.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 12, 2026.