Consumer delinquencies are rising in Canada, with a growing number of people falling behind on their debt payments, according to new data from Equifax.
Equifax released a report Tuesday on the eve of a Bank of Canada interest rate decision, revealing that delinquency rates for Canadians -- particularly seniors aged 65 and older – were up 7.2% year-over-year in the fourth quarter.
"As we expected, the worm is turning in the Canadian credit market," said Bill Johnston, Vice-President of Data and Analytics at Equifax Canada, in a written news release. "Bankruptcies were up 15% in the last half of 2018 and the small increase in delinquency rates mask some underlying weakness."
The 90-day mortgage delinquency rate rose 1.5% to 0.18% in the quarter and the comparable non-mortgage rate was up 0.4% to 1.07% following two quarters of higher consumer bankruptcy rates, the report stated.
A consensus of analysts now calls for the Bank of Canada to hold interest rates steady throughout 2019 after having raised rates five times since the summer of 2017.
