The number is terrible, $25,597 per Canadian (and this excluding mortgage debt), so how is it made up? First, and probably the single largest item is car loan: Cars are expensive, especially if like most Canadian you've discovered 4 wheel drive (trust me with winter here, 4x4 is not a luxury, its a necessity!), but its not cheap.
Second is credit cards, massive debt that is carried around for years (with an interest rate in excess of 20% for more cards). There have been many warnings about Canadians' indebtedness, and here in Quebec its growing even faster than the rest of Canada (up 7.8% whereas the Canadian average is 4.5% -- still bad, but not "as bad"). Bottom line lots of consumption demand in Canada is fueled by borrowing, when interest rates start rising (anybody's guess) the pain could be substantial. Then again, if Canadians are borrowing on their credit card at 20%, I don't suppose they will freak out when it goes to 25%...
Second is credit cards, massive debt that is carried around for years (with an interest rate in excess of 20% for more cards). There have been many warnings about Canadians' indebtedness, and here in Quebec its growing even faster than the rest of Canada (up 7.8% whereas the Canadian average is 4.5% -- still bad, but not "as bad"). Bottom line lots of consumption demand in Canada is fueled by borrowing, when interest rates start rising (anybody's guess) the pain could be substantial. Then again, if Canadians are borrowing on their credit card at 20%, I don't suppose they will freak out when it goes to 25%...