The budget office also noted that indebtedness has continued to edge higher in Canada, which has seen the largest increase in household debt relative to income of any G7 country since 2000.
Household debt loads have climbed during an era of low interest rates. The budget office said the effective household borrowing rate — which the Bank of Canada describes as a weighted average of interest rates on various mortgage and consumer loans — declined to 3.1 per cent in December from 6.7 per cent in January 1999.
The Bank of Canada has pointed to the potential hazards linked to high household debt — particularly if the country were hit by a severe recession or a prolonged period of increasing unemployment.
But the central bank has argued that the likelihood of household debt levels becoming a serious problem remains low and the situation is likely to improve once the economy starts to recover.
The bank has said there's been little evidence of significant increases in delinquency rates.