Household debt outpaced income in first quarter

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 income rose 0.9 percentage points to 179.6% in this first quarter of this year.

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% in the first quarter of 2026, up from 14.68% in the fourth quarter of 2025.

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 $22.6 billion in the quarter, compared with $26.3 million in the fourth quarter of last year, offset by increases in consumer credit and non-mortgage debt.