Household debt-to-income ratio down in Q1

Statistics Canada says the amount Canadians owe relative to their income pulled back in the first quarter from the record level set in the fourth quarter of 2021 as incomes grew faster than debt.

The agency says, on a seasonally adjusted basis, household credit market debt as a proportion of household disposable income fell to 182.5% compared with the record 185.0% in the previous quarter.

In other words, it says there was $1.83 in credit market debt for every dollar of household disposable income in the first quarter.

The decrease came as household credit market debt grew 2.0%, but household disposable income gained 3.3%.

Mortgage debt totalled nearly $2 trillion, while non-mortgage loans stood at $706.2 billion.

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, was 13.48% in the first quarter, down from 13.72% in the fourth quarter of 2021.

The Canadian Press

The Canadian Press is a national news agency headquartered in Toronto and founded in 1917.