The amount Canadians owe relative to their income ticked higher in the fourth quarter of last year as the growth in debt slightly outpaced income growth, Statistics Canada said Thursday. The agency reported that seasonally adjusted household credit market debt, as a proportion of disposable income, increased to 178.5 per cent in the fourth quarter. That means there was roughly $1.79 in credit market debt for every dollar of household disposable income in the fourth quarter. Helping fuel the rise in the two key debt ratios was a increase in borrowing in the fourth quarter. On a seasonally adjusted basis, Statistics Canada said households borrowed $21.2 billion in the fourth quarter as mortgage loan demand rose $2.3 billion to $12.3 billion.

Source: CBC News March 14, 2019 14:25 UTC