Statistics Canada reports household debt-to-income ratio ticked higher in Q1

Statistics Canada says the amount Canadians owe relative to their income ticked higher in the first quarter as debt grew faster than income.

The agency says the ratio of household credit market debt to disposable income rose to 173.9% on a seasonally adjusted basis, up from 173.5% in the fourth quarter of 2024.

In other words, Statistics Canada says there was $1.74 in credit market debt for every dollar of household disposable income in the first quarter.

The household debt service ratio — measured as total obligated payments of principal and interest on credit market debt as a proportion of household disposable income — held steady at 14.40% in the quarter.

The results came as the pace of household credit market borrowing slowed to a seasonally adjusted $34.5 billion in the first three months of the year, down from the $41.6 billion in the fourth quarter of 2024.

The total seasonally adjusted stock of household credit market debt, which includes consumer credit, and mortgage and non-mortgage loans, rose 1.1% to $3.07 trillion in the first quarter of 2025, with mortgages accounting for almost 75% of the total.