Four in
ten carry personal debt
On average, $33K, mostly on line of credit
TORONTO July 14th,
2015 - In a
random sampling of public opinion taken by the Forum Poll™ among 1251 Canadian
adults, just more than 4-in-10 carry personal debt (besides a mortgage - 42%). Close
to half have no debt (48%). A further 1-in-10 prefer not to answer (10%), which
indicates the indebted total is closer to half the population.
Claiming
personal debt is common to young mid-age groups (35 to 44 - 55%) but not
seniors (18%), mid-income groups ($60K to $80K - 52%), in the prairies (51%)
but less so in BC (38%), among those with children (58%) and among mothers of
children under 18 especially (62%).
Line of credit largest source of debt
Among
those with personal debt, a line of credit is most often cited as the largest
source (26%), followed by credit card debt (22%), a car loan (19%) and a
student loan (17%). Relatively few claim to have a personal loan (6%). Among
the youngest, student debt is by far the largest source of indebtedness (41%),
while line of credit debt peaks among the oldest (39%). Conservatives are more
likely than others to have line of credit debt (34%) while Liberals are
slightly more likely than others to have credit card debt (26%).
Most debt between $5K and $25K
On
average, those Canadians with personal debt owe about $33,000, although this is
lower among the youngest ($26K on average) and higher among the next age group
up (35 to 44 - $43K on average). The plurality places their personal debt
(apart from a mortgage) at between $5K and $25K (42%). Average debt load is
highest in Alberta ($45K, on average) and among the wealthiest ($100K to $250K
- $50K on average).
"While personal indebtedness
in Canada appears to be high, with forty percent or more claiming debt which
doesn’t include a mortgage, the amounts involved, around $30,000 on average, do
not appear to be crushingly onerous," said Forum Research President, Dr. Lorne
Bozinoff.
Lorne Bozinoff, Ph.D. is the president and founder of Forum
Research. He can be reached at lbozinoff@forumresearch.com or at (416)
960-9603.
