Softer Housing Market, Higher Incomes Help Canadians Trim Debt Ratios

  • Debt growth at slowest pace on record outside of Covid shock
  • Credit market debt-to-income ratio falls to 180.5% in 2Q

A worker at the site of a residential building under construction in Montreal. 

Photographer: Graham Hughes/Bloomberg
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Rising incomes and a slower housing market helped Canada’s households modestly repair their balance sheets in the second quarter, even as economic growth stalled.

Canadians’ disposable incomes rose 2.6% from the first quarter, according to data released Wednesday by Statistics Canada. At the same time, households pared their growth in credit market debt, which increased just 0.6% — the slowest pace on record outside the depths of the pandemic.