(Ottawa) The amount Canadians owe relative to what they earn rose in the third quarter, pushed up by growing mortgage debt, Statistics Canada reported on Friday.
According to the federal agency, household debt on the credit market expressed as a proportion of their disposable income, on a seasonally adjusted basis, rose to 177.2% in the third quarter, from 176.7% in the second trimester.
This means that households have $ 1.77 in credit market debt for every dollar of disposable income.
This increase comes as household debt in the credit market rose 2.0% and household disposable income rose 1.7%.
Statistics Canada said that, on a seasonally adjusted basis, households had contracted 51.6 billion in debt in the third quarter, including 45.9 billion in mortgages and 5.7 billion in non-mortgage loans.
Despite the increase in debt, the household debt service ratio, which is the total mandatory payments of principal and interest on debt in the credit market as a proportion of household disposable income, has fallen to 13 , 32% in the third quarter, compared to 13.47% in the previous quarter, Statistics Canada said.