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Rebecca Oakes, Equifax’s senior vice president of Canadian analysis, said many trends stem from the cost of living, growing unemployment and rising trade tensions.
“In order for anyone to keep paying… you need to have income, you need to have a good job,” Oaks said. “When economic uncertainty is there really some impact.”
The report found that even though the average monthly credit card spending per cardholder fell by $107 per month, at least 1.4 million people (1.4 million) missed at least one credit in the first quarter.
“We actually think it’s about pulling off spending. It will have a ripple effect on businesses and will ultimately have a nokle effect on employment levels,” she said.
“It’s kind of interconnected when you start to see this economic uncertainty,” Oakes added.
The report said consumer-grade violation rate for non-account holders rose 8.9% year-on-year, compared with 6.5% for mortgage holders.
The report said that the average non-bill debt per consumer rose to $21,859 in the first quarter.
The report shows that younger consumers seem to be having a hard time. The credit card default rate in this queue was 5.38%, up 21.7% year-on-year.
“If you have a credit commitment and your daily living expenses are increasing… or it’s hard to get a job, or your income is not rising at the same income as your living costs, it’s hard to keep paying.”
The report shows that in the first three months of 2025, total consumer debt increased to $2.5.5 trillion, a year-on-year increase of 4%, but fell by more than $6 billion from the end of 2024.
Large amounts of mortgage renewals have also increased debt levels. Many homeowners who locked in low interest rates at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic are looking for renewals on mortgage loans, which Oakes calls a “massive renewal.”
Ontario became a hot spot for financial stress in the first quarter, the report shows. The province’s more than 90-day mortgage crime rate has soared to 0.24% since last year.
“We just see missed payments related to consumers with mortgages in Ontario,” Oaks said.
The province also believes that non-mortgage crime rates are the highest, up 24% year-on-year, followed by Alberta and Quebec.
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Last modified: May 27, 2025
