By Robb M. Stewart
OTTAWA–Household debt in Canada continued to ease in the first quarter of the year thanks to steadily increasing disposable income.
The ratio of household credit market debt to personal disposable income narrowed to 176.4% in the three months through March from 178.0% in the previous quarter, a fourth consecutive quarterly drop, Statistics Canada said Thursday in its quarterly report on national balance sheets.
That means households owe an average of 1.76 Canadian dollars, the equivalent of roughly US$1.28, for every dollar of after-tax income they earn. The data agency said total household debt payments rose 1.4% in the first quarter, lagging a 1.9% increase in disposable income.
Many Canadians built up savings and paid down debt during the pandemic, though overall household debt levels in the country have remained high for years and there are concerns still-high interest rates could see…
