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Canadian household debt hits $1.8T as report warns of domestic risk

Mar 12, 2018 | 8:45 AM

TORONTO — Canadians’ collective household debt has climbed to $1.8 trillion as an international financial group sounds an early warning that the country’s banking system is at risk from rising debt levels.

Equifax Canada says consumers now owe $1.821 trillion including mortgages as of the fourth-quarter of 2017, marking a six per cent increase from a year earlier. 

Although nearly half of Canadians reduced their personal liabilities, roughly 37 per cent added to their debt to push the average amount up 3.3 per cent to $22,837 per person, not including mortgages.

The fresh numbers come as an international financial group owned by the world’s central banks says Canada’s credit-to-gross-domestic-product and debt-service ratios show early warning signs of potential risk to the banking system in the coming years.