Household borrowing continued to rise in November, but at a slower rate, as credit card balances declined, Statistics Canada said on Friday.
The national statistical agency reported that households’ total credit liabilities rose by $11.3 billion in November to $3.02 trillion.
While total borrowing was up 0.4% in the month, the annual growth rate slowed from 5.1% in October to 4.6% in November.
The slowing was led by non-mortgage borrowing, which was up by just 0.1% in the month, as credit card balances declined by 0.2%, and home equity lines of credit were essentially flat. Other forms of non-mortgage borrowing rose 0.2% in the month.
At the same time, household mortgage debt rose by 0.5% in November, which marked the fifth straight month of higher growth, StatCan noted.
Back in June, mortgage debt was rising at a 3.3% annual rate. In November, that was up to 5.7%, the agency reported.
The national statistical agency also noted that the growth in borrowing by private non-financial corporations slowed in November, with total credit liabilities for the category rising by 0.5% to $2.2 trillion — a much slower rise than the 1.3% increase in October.