Statistics Canada: household debt now $1.80 per dollar of income

Canadian household debt has now exceeded income for six straight quarters, marking a troubling stretch for household finances.

Statistics Canada reports that the seasonally adjusted ratio of household credit market debt to household disposable income rose to 179.6 percent in the first quarter of 2026 — up 0.9 percentage points from the fourth quarter of 2025. In practical terms, there is roughly $1.80 in credit market debt for every dollar of household disposable income.

The household debt service ratio — the proportion of obligated principal and interest payments relative to disposable income — was 14.75 percent in Q1 2026, up from 14.68 percent in Q4 2025.

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 final quarter of 2025. The increase was driven by consumer credit and non-mortgage debt, as net mortgage originations fell $22.6 billion in the quarter compared with $26.3 billion in Q4 2025.