Equifax Canada has sounded an early warning that the country’s banking system is at risk from rising debt levels
The International group released a new report on Monday which showed that Canadian consumers now owe $1.821-trillion including mortgages as of the fourth-quarter of 2017.
Robert Kerton – Economics
Robert Kerton is an adjunct professor at Waterloo who specializes in consumer economics, international consumer policy, microeconomics of regulation and public policy. He is past president of the American Council on Consumer Interests and has done extensive advocacy work that contributed to Canada bringing in the Competition Act.
“Canadian banks have been very careful to protect themselves by making loans only when the loan is a low ratio of property value. This means Canada’s financial institutions are well covered - so in spite of recent studies - no one should lose sleep about the health of banks.
“There is modest concern about borrowers but the alarm in the Equifax Report, like most independent financial sector reports, has a greater focus on the health of banks than on the wellbeing of consumers. A significant portion of consumers are not borrowing for ‘frivolities’ but for assets like mortgages. The focus in any alarm should be on selling malpractices so consumers receive value-for-money and the best financial sellers win.”
— Robert Kerton
