Swipe now, pay later is a common theme across the country as Canadians’ demand for credit reached a record high in the first three months of the year, according to data by credit report bureau Equifax.
According to the report, total consumer debt in Canada rose by nearly 7% to more than $1.7 trillion.
On average, Canadians carry $22,125 in non-mortgage debt, which includes credit cards and many lines of credit.
While debt loans are growing, Canadians are generally still making their necessary payments as the national delinquency rate remained stable at a mere 1.15%
In many areas of the country, soaring housing prices are allowing homeowners to refinance significant amounts of unsecured debt along with strong economic growth and low unemployment in most of the country, which is likely helping many overstretched borrowers stave off bankruptcy.
But not everywhere looks the same. Average debt loads vary significantly, with Calgary residents carrying over $28,800 on average in credit card debt and consumer loans, which took top spot for major cities.
Delinquencies soared in Newfoundland, which registered an increase of nearly 24% in the rate of debt repayments that were more than 90 days late.
Check out Canada's consumer debt breakdown below:
Calgarians carry a lot of debt but residents of Fort McMurray have even more: a whopping $37,345 on average. The province’s delinquency rate kept going up, by nearly 14 per cent compared to the first three months of 2016, but a much slower pace than through much of 2016, according to Equifax.
The picture in Saskatchewan is similar to Alberta’s. Debt loads are high, but as the economy bottomed out, the delinquency growth rate is slowing down.
In British Columbia, delinquencies were down: a 5.6 per cent decrease compared to the previous year.
Newfoundland may be in the middle of the pack as far as debt loads, but the province has seen delinquencies balloon as the local economy kept sputtering. “People in Newfoundland are having more difficulty making timely payments than in the other provinces,” Regina Malina, senior director of data and analytics at Equifax Canada noted.
The province had one of Canada’s highest delinquency rates, but that number was roughly stable compared to early 2016.
Nova Scotia has Canada’s highest delinquency rate, at 1.81 per cent, a 8.2-per cent jump over the same period in 2016.
In Prince Edward Island the delinquency rate is 1.4 per cent, roughly the same as in the first three months of 2016.
Ontario, where home prices skyrocketed in early 2017 not just in Toronto but many of the province’s south, delinquencies dropped by over 6 per cent.
Quebecers have lower debt (for Canadians standards, anyways) and here, too, delinquencies dropped. They were down 5.6 per cent.
Manitobans carry the smallest amount of consumer debt, on average, but delinquencies were up by over 10 per cent.
