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By MoneySense Staff on June 14, 2011
Estimated reading time: 1 minute

Canadian household debt at a record $1.5 trillion

By MoneySense Staff on June 14, 2011
Estimated reading time: 1 minute

Majority of debt going to food, housing and transportation

This article is 11 years old. Some details may be outdated.

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The Certified General Accountants Association of Canada (CGA) reports that household debt is at an all-time high with single parents, retirees and those households making less than $50,000 a year in the most debt. “For these individuals, there is little hope for improved financial condition,” says Anthony Ariganello, President and CEO of CGA-Canada in the report. One-third of retired households have an average debt of $60,000 while 17% have over $100,000 in debt. The CGA also reported that 27% of non-retired Canadians do not save at all, even for retirement. Thirty-eight per cent of those surveyed said they are not confident about their finances in retirement, and 52% said that they had a clear idea of how much personal savings they would need to be satisfied financially in retirement. That means just under half of Canadians do not have a solid financial plan for retirement. According to the report, the main causes of debt are due to day-to-day living expenses, not mortgages or education. In other words, Canadians are spending to consume instead of spending in the hope to create more wealth in the future.

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