OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says the amount households owe relative to income edged lower in the second quarter as income gains outpaced the growth in debt.
The agency says household credit market debt as a proportion of household disposable income fell to 176.4 per cent on a seasonally adjusted basis, compared with 178.6 per cent in the first quarter.
It says this means households held about $1.76 in credit market debt for every dollar of household disposable income.
The household debt service ratio — obligated principal and interest payments on credit market debt as a proportion of household disposable income — was 14.52 per cent, down from 14.68 per cent.
The decline came as seasonally adjusted household credit market borrowing, which includes consumer credit as well as mortgage and non-mortgage loans, slowed to $29.4 billion for the quarter, compared with $34.4 billion in the first quarter of the year.
Mortgage borrowing dropped to $19.4 billion in the quarter, the slowest pace of borrowing since the first quarter of 2024, while non-mortgage borrowing, including consumer credit, slowed to $10.0 billion.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sep. 11, 2026.
