Consumer credit growth surged in December

Total Canadian household credit growth slowed in December, but continued on a yearlong upward trend, according to a report from Scotiabank. 

Overall, household credit growth decreased to 4.9% month over month (seasonally adjusted and annualized) in December, down from 5.9% in November. Total household credit grew by 4.2% year over year in 2019, compared with 3.5% in 2018.

Mortgage growth slowed to 5.1% in December from a revised pace of 7.7% in November. In spite of the slowdown, mortgage growth was still substantially faster than the average growth of 4.5% over the past two years.

Consumer credit growth rose by 4.4% month over month, marking the fastest monthly growth since October 2018. Scotiabank noted that a 50-basis-point decline in consumer credit rates in 2019 and strong labour markets and rising wages may have contributed to the jump in credit growth.

Maddie Johnson

Maddie is a freelance writer and editor who has been reporting for Advisor.ca since 2019.