The amount of mortgage debt taken on by Canadians set a fresh record in 2021, eclipsing the previous record set the year before.
Record home price increases over the course of the year translated into record borrowing that amounted to $187.5 billion in new mortgage debt, Statistics Canada reported in its national balance sheet data. That’s well above the previous record of $118.9 billion in 2020 and $79.6 billion in 2019.
In the fourth quarter alone, $46.3 billion in mortgage debt was added, though that was down from the peak of $60.1 billion reported in the second quarter.
Total mortgage debt now stands at $1.95 trillion, while non-mortgage debt makes up another $701 billion.
StatCan’s data confirms that variable mortgage rates continued to be the preferred mortgage product for many borrowers in 2021. The share of mortgage borrowers…
