Household borrowing continued to rise in March, led by growing mortgage debt, Statistics Canada says.
Total household credit liabilities increased by $9.3 billion in March, up 0.3% from the previous month, StatsCan reported.
The rise in overall household debt was driven by mortgage debt, which rose by $6.3 billion.
Mortgage debt was up 0.3% on a monthly basis and 3.5% on an annualized basis, the federal statistics agency said. This marked a slowdown compared with February, when mortgage debt grew by 4.2% on an annualized basis.
While mortgage debt drove the headline increase in household credit, other forms of debt grew faster in March.
Non-mortgage debt increased at a 0.4% rate in March (up $3 billion), which was a bit faster than in February, when other forms of borrowing rose by 0.3%.
Credit card debt grew fastest, up 1.1% in March, rising by $1.2 billion.
Additionally, balances on home equity lines of credit edged up by $0.2 billion (0.1%) in March, while other forms of debt grew by $1.6 billion, up 0.3% in the month.