Bank of Canada Data: Household Debt Arrears Hit Highest Level Since 2015 as Card Strain Builds

Canadian household debt arrears have climbed to their highest level in more than a decade. New Bank of Canada data shows 2.23% of indebted households were 60 or more days behind on a payment in at least one credit category in the second quarter of 2026.

That is the highest share in data going back to 2015. It tops the previous peak of 2.18% recorded in mid-2019 and sits well above the 1.41% seen in 2021, when layoffs and furloughs were widespread during the pandemic.

Credit cards lead the stress

The headline number looks small, but the Bank of Canada's own research suggests the trouble often starts somewhere commonplace, on a credit card statement. Credit card arrears, the share of accounts at least 90 days past due, reached 0.80% in Q2 2026. That is nearly double the 0.44% recorded in early 2021. Instalment loans also hit a series high of 2.95%.

Mortgage arrears remain low at 0.23%, but that figure has nearly doubled since 2023. Mortgages are usually the last bill people stop paying, so the central bank reads missed payments on other debts as an early sign of financial distress.

What the research shows

A Bank of Canada staff paper published in February, titled Consumers' Path to Mortgage Delinquency, examined how this unfolds. Using TransUnion data from 2015 to 2024, researchers found that mortgage holders begin using more of their available credit roughly two years before they make their first late mortgage payment. Missing payments on consumer credit, especially credit cards, follow, then accelerate in the final six months.

More than one in eight borrowers, or 13.16%, are using more than 80% of their credit card limit. The share is 14.36% among borrowers without a mortgage. Late payments split along similar lines: 3.12% of borrowers without a mortgage were at least 30 days late on a card, against 1.84% of mortgage holders.

Age and income matter too. Bank of Canada research published in September found that between 2020 and 2025, spending outpaced income gains for younger and lower-income households, while older and higher-income households fared markedly better.

The minimum payment trap

The Bank's 2026 Financial Stability Report says households overall remain in stable financial condition, which means the pressure is concentrated rather than widespread.

Even so, paying only the minimum keeps an account in good standing without freeing the borrower from the debt. The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada's Credit Card Payment Calculator shows that a $1,000 balance paid at the minimum takes 10 years to clear and costs $798.89 in interest. A fixed monthly payment clears the same balance in 11 months with just $91.62 in interest. Since September 2010, federally regulated lenders have been required to display an estimate of how long it would take to pay off a balance through minimum payments alone.