Savings & Assets

Owning assets provides economic security. But more Canadians lack assets and their debt load is increasing. These indicators track financial security.

Over the last 25 years, high-income Canadians have. While the highest 20% of income earners have drastically increased their savings, the bottom 60% of earners have fallen deeper into debt. (Source: Statistics Canada. Calculations by Social Capital Partners).

Canadians are carrying significantly more debt than they did thirty years ago. The debt load is a real threat and makes working Canadians highly vulnerable to interest-rate spikes and asset depreciation. Debt loads have largely stabilized in the past decade and that is a trend to monitor. (Source: Statistics Canada).

Canadians are carrying more debt and are spending an increasing percentage of their income on servicing their debt. In 2025, Canadians were spending almost 9% of their income to simply make their interest payments. While this is lower than it was in 1990 and 1991 when interest rates were 13 or 14%, these servicing costs have become a bigger drain on Canadians’ disposable income and ability to keep up with the cost of living. (Source: Statistics Canada. Adapted from an idea by Kaylie Tiessen).

The last five years have seen a dramatic increase in the number of Canadians who are missing mandatory debt payments. While the number has more than quadrupled in the last five years for those with incomes under $40,000, it has increased significantly for those other income brackets as well. These data are a sign that many Canadians are really struggling with the cost of living. (Source: The Bank of Canada).