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.