Statistics Canada says the amount Canadians owe relative to their income pulled back in the first quarter from the record level set in the fourth quarter of 2021 as incomes grew faster than debt.
The agency says, on a seasonally adjusted basis, household credit market debt as a proportion of household disposable income fell to 182.5 per cent compared with the record 185.0 per cent in the previous quarter.
In other words, it says there was $1.83 in credit market debt for every dollar of household disposable income in the first quarter.
The decrease came as household credit market debt grew 2.0 per cent, but household disposable income gained 3.3 per cent.
Mortgage debt totalled nearly $2 trillion, while non-mortgage loans stood at $706.2 billion.
The household debt service ratio, measured as total obligated payments of principal and interest on credit market debt as a proportion of household disposable income, was 13.48 per cent in the first quarter, down from 13.72 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2021.
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