OTTAWA - A key measure of household debt rose to a new high in the third quarter.
Statistics Canada says the level of household credit market debt to disposable income increased to 163.7 per cent in the third quarter from 163.1 per cent in the second quarter.
The increase means Canadians owe nearly $1.64 for every $1 in disposable income they earn in a year.
During the quarter, households borrowed $25.1 billion including $19.7 billion in mortgages. Total mortgage debt at the end of the third quarter stood at just over $1.1 trillion, up 1.8 per cent from the second quarter.
Consumer credit debt totalled $505 billion at the end of the quarter, up one per cent from the previous three-month period.
However, despite the increase, household net worth gained 2.2 per cent in the third quarter on the back of a strong stock market. The value of shares and other equities gained 3.7 per cent in the quarter, while the value of household real estate gained 1.5 per cent.