As rates fall, household debt growth picks up: StatCan

Total household debt passed the $3-trillion threshold in October, driven by accelerating mortgage borrowing, according to new data from Statistics Canada.

The national statistics agency reported that total household credit liabilities rose by $13 billion in the month to just over $3 trillion.

On an annualized basis, total borrowing was up by 5.3% in October, StatCan said — an increase from 4.5% growth in September.

In October, the 0.4% increase in total debt was led by borrowing backed by real estate — mortgages and home equity lines of credit (HELOCs) — which accounted for $11.2 billion of the total.

Mortgage borrowing was up by 0.5% in October, accelerating from the 0.4% gain in the previous month, while HELOC balances rose by 0.7%, an increase from the 0.5% growth recorded in September.

The rise in real estate borrowing came as the Bank of Canada cut its policy rate by 50 basis points this month, StatCan noted.

At the same time, non-mortgage debt grew by 0.4% in the month, as the growth of credit card debt slowed. In October, credit card debt rose by just 0.2%, down from 0.7% in the previous month.

Alongside the faster rise in household borrowing, total debt for private non-financial corporations also grew by 1.4% in October — an increase of $29.8 billion to $2.2 trillion — up from the 0.4% growth rate recorded in September.

James Langton

James is a senior reporter for Advisor.ca and its sister publication, Investment Executive. He has been reporting on regulation, securities law, industry news and more since 1994.