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Financial liabilities, primarily mortgage and non-mortgage debt, rose by $8.7bn, marking the slowest quarterly expansion (+0.3 percent) since the first quarter of 2023, as high interest rates influenced household decisions.
Wealth distribution remains uneven across Canadian households. As of the fourth quarter of 2023, over 90 percent of net worth belonged to homeowners. The highest wealth quintile averaged over $3.3m per household, while the lowest quintile had liabilities exceeding assets.
The household saving rate increased to 6.9 percent in the first quarter of 2024, the highest since the first quarter of 2022. Disposable income gains (+1.8 percent) outpaced nominal consumption expenditure increases (+1.2 percent).
Households added $15.5bn to their currency and deposits, the smallest accumulation since the third quarter of 2021. In response to rising interest rates, preferences shifted towards fixed-term deposits, which comprised 47.8 percent of personal deposits at chartered banks by the end of the first quarter of 2024.
Households invested $23.8bn in mutual fund shares, with most inflows directed to equity-focused exchange-traded funds, driven by strong performance in global equities, particularly in technology companies. Inflows to money market funds were at their lowest since the first quarter of 2022.
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