Skip to content
CMHC Home Canada Mortgage
and Housing Corporation
  • Sign In or Register
  • FRANÇAIS
  • MENU
MENU
× FRANÇAIS
  • Home
  • Professionals
    • Project funding and mortgage financing
      • Funding programs
        • Affordable Housing Innovation Fund
        • Community (social) housing
        • Federal Lands Initiative
        • Funding for Indigenous housing
        • Housing Accelerator Fund
        • Housing Supply Challenge
        • Innovation and research
        • National Housing Co-Investment Funding
        • National Housing Strategy Project Profiles
        • Rapid Housing Initiative
        • Rental Construction Financing Initiative
        • Shared Equity Mortgage Providers Fund
      • Mortgage loan insurance
        • Homeowner and small rental mortgage loan insurance
        • Homeowner Business Transformation (HBT)
          • Arrears Report Upload Tool - Coming 2022
          • Default Management Request Submission Tool
          • Homeowner Claims Submission Tool
          • User Access Management (Coming Soon)
        • Multi-unit mortgage loan insurance
          • MLI Select
        • Default, claims and properties for sale
        • Underwriting centre
        • emili
        • NHA approved lenders
        • Calculating GDS / TDS
        • How to recognize and report mortgage fraud
          • Approved Lender Advise of Fraudulent, False and Misleading Information
        • Contact mortgage loan insurance
        • Insured Mortgage Purchase Program (IMPP)
        • COVID-19: CECRA for small businesses has ended
      • Securitization
        • NHA Mortgage Backed Securities
        • Canada Mortgage Bonds
        • Canadian registered covered bonds
        • Blockchain in the housing industry
    • Housing markets, data and research
      • Housing markets
        • CMHC Reports Calendar
        • Housing market reports
        • Mortgage market and consumer reports
      • Housing research
        • Consultations
          • Prohibition on the Purchase of Residential Property by Non-Canadians Act
            • Prohibition on the Purchase of Residential Property by Non-Canadians Act – Frequently asked questions
        • Housing research reports
        • Housing surveys
        • Research awards and scholarships
        • Understanding core housing need
        • Collaborative Housing Research Network
      • Housing data
        • Data tables
          • Household characteristics data
          • Housing market data
          • Mortgage and debt data
          • Rental market data
        • Housing market information portal
        • Residential Mortgage Industry Data Dashboard
        • Housing in Canada Online (HiCO)
        • CMHC licence agreement for the use of data
        • Housing Knowledge Centre
    • Industry innovation and leadership
      • Housing innovation
      • Our Partners
        • Partnerships
        • Federal, Provincial and Territorial Forum on Housing
          • Resources for Members of the Federal, Provincial and Territorial Forum on Housing
      • Industry collaboration
      • Industry expertise
        • Affordable housing
        • Indigenous housing
        • Senior housing
        • Accessible and adaptable housing
          • Universal Design Guide
        • Developing sustainable housing
        • Resources for mortgage professionals
        • CMHC e-newsletters
    • Events and speakers
      • Conferences
      • Speakers’ bureau
  • Consumers
    • Buying a home
      • Homebuying calculators
        • Mortgage calculator
        • Affordability calculator
        • Debt service calculator
      • Buying guides
        • Homebuying step by step
        • CMHC's condominium buyer's guide
      • Mortgage loan insurance for consumers
        • What is CMHC mortgage loan insurance?
        • Do I qualify for mortgage loan insurance?
        • CMHC mortgage loan insurance costs
        • CMHC Eco Plus
        • CMHC — home renovation financing options
        • FAQs — mortgage loan insurance
        • COVID-19: understanding mortgage payment deferral
      • First-time home buyer incentive
      • Incentives for homebuyers
      • Newcomers
    • Owning a home
      • Manage your mortgage
        • Mortgage fraud
        • Mortgage planning tips
        • Plan and manage your mortgage
        • Your credit report
        • Your home value
      • Aging in place
        • Housing options for Seniors
        • Housing and finance tips
        • Mortgage financing options for people 55+
        • Preventing fraud and financial abuse
    • Renting a home
      • I want to rent
        • Things to consider before renting
        • Types of housing for rent in Canada
        • Finding or advertising a rental property
        • Visiting the rental property
        • Lease and rental agreements
        • Signing the lease
        • Credit checks and bad credit
        • Rental payments and deposits
        • Roommates and pets
      • I am renting
        • Moving day
        • Landlord/Tenant responsibilities
        • Inspections
        • Maintenance and repairs
        • Complaints and evictions
        • Rent increases
        • When you can't pay rent
        • Renewing or terminating the lease
        • Moving out
      • One-Time Top-Up to the Canada Housing Benefit
      • COVID‑19: eviction bans and suspensions to support renters
  • About CMHC
    • Management and governance
      • Speakers’ bureau
      • Annual public meeting
      • Board of directors and committees
      • Our management committee
      • Pension governance
        • Pension overview
        • Key roles and responsibilities
        • Annual reports
    • Corporate reporting
      • CMHC annual report
      • Program evaluation
      • Quarterly financial reports
      • Joint auditors special examination report to CMHC board 2018
      • CMHC’s Insured Mortgage Deferral
      • Summary of the corporate plan
      • Transparency
        • Access to information and privacy protection
        • Accessibility at CMHC
        • Accessibility feedback process
        • Briefing materials
        • Procurement
          • Vendor Diversity Program
        • Travel, hospitality and conference expenditures
    • Contact us
      • CMHC departments
        • Contact your multi-unit housing solutions specialist
        • Contact mortgage loan insurance
        • Indigenous and the North Housing Solutions
      • Granville lsland
      • Media relations
      • National office
      • Regional offices
      • Holiday service hours
    • Careers
  • Media Newsroom
    • Coronavirus (COVID-19) updates
    • Media relations
    • New social housing buildings for women in Montreal
  • National Housing Strategy
    • What is the strategy?
      • About the initiatives
      • How to apply
      • Help and resources
      • Priority areas for action
      • The National Housing Strategy Glossary of Common Terms
      • The Strategy in Action
    • Federal/Provincial/Territorial housing agreements
    • Other funding and financing opportunities
  • The Housing Observer
  • Careers
  • Housing Knowledge Centre
 
  • Home
  • Professionals
  • Housing markets, data and research
  • Housing research
  • Housing research reports
  • Housing finance system
  • Mortgage Deferral Series
  • Consumer Debt Deferrals by Lender Group
  • Save page to My Folder
    Save
  • Share this page
    Share
Save Icon

SAVE TO MY FOLDER

Consumer Debt Deferrals by Lender Group

SAVE
Close this Window   |   Manage my Folder
Save Icon

SAVE TO MY FOLDER

Consumer Debt Deferrals by Lender Group

Done Done!
Close this Window   |   Manage my Folder
Share icon

Share via

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Mail
  • Twitter
  • print
  • CopyLink

SuccessCopyLinkVersionLink copied

Share icon

Share via

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Mail
  • Twitter
  • print
  • CopyLink

SuccessCopyLinkVersionLink copied

share icon

Mail-blue Share via Email

Did You Know?

You can include an email signature?

Register | Sign In

×
Google Captcha Loader
share icon

Mail-blue Share via Email

Done Done!
Close this window

Consumer Debt Deferrals by Lender Group

An analysis of mortgage and non-mortgage consumer debt deferrals by lender group.

Show Guide Chapters
  • Mortgage Deferral Series
  • Deferred Mortgages by Borrower’s Employment Industry
  • Duration of Mortgage Deferrals
  • Consumer Debt Deferrals by Lender Group
  • Consumer Credit Scores and Mortgage Deferrals
  • Deferrals of Insured and Uninsured Mortgages

This analysis looks at consumer debt deferrals by lender group. The data is from the credit rating agency Equifax Canada, and is as reported to that agency.1 For residential mortgages, the data covers approximately 80% to 85% of the Canadian market and includes both insured and uninsured mortgages.

Highlight of findings

  • Mortgage deferrals accounted for 86% of consumer debt deferred as at June 30, 2020.
  • The share of outstanding debt in deferral varied by lender group. When compared to other lender groups, the Big 6 banks2 had allowed the deferral of the most debt.
  • For all lender groups, the percentage of mortgage balance in deferral was higher in Alberta than in other provinces and territories.
  • As at December 31, 2020, total mortgage balance in deferral had decreased by 79% from June of the same year. Total non-mortgage consumer debt balance in deferral had decreased by 88%.

We first focus on the period up to June 2020, when the unemployment rate had peaked since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. We then provide the most recent information available at the time of this publication. We present the statistics for both mortgage and non-mortgage consumer debt but we do not draw a comparison between the 2 market segments.

Share of consumer debt balances in deferral by lender group

As at June 30, 2020, 16.7% of the outstanding mortgage balance in Canada was in deferral.3 The average balance (per loan) of deferred mortgages was $270,597, compared to the average balance of $219,077 for all outstanding mortgages. The Big 6 banks4 had a market share of 72.9% of the residential mortgage market. They held 79.0% of the total mortgage balance in deferral. Other banks and the credit unions carried 12.0% of the mortgage balance in deferral. The remaining 9.0% was held by other lenders.5

The non-mortgage consumer debt market is smaller than the mortgage market in terms of outstanding balances. As of June 30, 2020, the:

  • outstanding balance of non-mortgage consumer debt was 46.5% that of mortgage debt
  • non-mortgage consumer debt,6 5.7% of the total outstanding balance was in deferral
  • balance of non-mortgage consumer debt in deferral was 15.9% that of mortgage debt in deferral

Of the balance of non-mortgage consumer debt in deferral, 84.2% was with the Big 6 banks, 6.6% at other banks and credit unions, and 9.2% at other lenders.

Figure 1: Share of consumer debt balances in deferral by lender group


Mortgage Debt


Non-Mortgage Debt

Outer circle: Balance in deferral for a lender group divided by the total balance in deferral.

Inner circle: Market share, calculated as outstanding balance for a lender group divided by the total outstanding balance.

Source: CMHC calculations using Equifax data

Figure 1: Share of consumer debt balances in deferral by lender group
Lender group Share in deferral
(Mortgage)
Share in deferral
(Non-mortgage)
Market share
(Mortgage)
Market share
(Non-mortgage)
Big 6 banks 79.0% 84.2% 72.9% 70.3%
Other banks 8.2% 5.5% 11.6% 10.7%
Credit unions 3.8% 1.1% 6.0% 3.1%
Others 9.1% 9.2% 9.5% 15.9%
Overall 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%

Source: CMHC calculations using Equifax data

Balance in deferral as a share of total balance held by each lender group

Balances in deferral as a share of total balances varied across lender groups for mortgages. For the Big 6 banks, 18.1% of the outstanding mortgage balance was in deferral as at June 30, 2020. The percentage was lower at other banks (11.7%), credit unions (10.6%) and other lenders (16.0%).

A smaller proportion of non-mortgage consumer debt was deferred. For the Big 6 banks, 6.9% of the balance of non-mortgage debt was in deferral. The percentage was again lower at other banks (2.9%), credit unions (2.1%) and other lenders (3.3%).

Figure 2: Balance in deferral as a share of total balance of consumer debt held by each lender group

Source: CMHC calculations using Equifax data

Figure 2: Balance in deferral as a share of total balance of consumer debt held by each lender group
Lender Group Mortgage Non-Mortgage
Big 6 banks 18.1% 6.9%
Other banks 11.7% 2.9%
Credit unions 10.6% 2.1%
Others 16.0% 3.3%
Overall 16.7% 5.7%

Source: CMHC calculations using Equifax data

Consumer debt deferrals by province and territory

The balance of consumer debt in deferral as a share of the total balance was higher in Alberta than in the other provinces and territories. As shown in figure 3, 24.1% of the outstanding mortgage balance in Alberta was deferred as at June 30, 2020, followed by Newfoundland and Labrador (20.2%) and New Brunswick (16.8%). For non-mortgage consumer debt, 7.8% of the outstanding balance in Alberta was deferred, followed by the Northwest Territories (7.6%) and Newfoundland and Labrador (6.6%).

Figure 3: Balance in deferral as a share of total balance of consumer debt, provinces and territories

Source: CMHC calculations using Equifax data

Figure 3: Balance in deferral as a share of total balance of consumer debt, provinces and territories
Geography Mortgage Non-Mortgage
Newfoundland and Labrador 20.2% 6.6%
Prince Edward Island 12.0% 3.7%
Nova Scotia 14.3% 4.7%
New Brunswick 16.8% 5.7%
Quebec 14.3% 6.3%
Ontario 16.4% 4.9%
Manitoba 14.1% 6.1%
Saskatchewan 15.8% 5.5%
Alberta 24.1% 7.8%
British Columbia 14.9% 5.7%
Yukon 9.4% 4.4%
Northwest Territories 13.1% 7.6%
Nunavut 10.7% 4.1%

Source: CMHC calculations using Equifax data

Consumer debt deferrals by lender group in provinces and territories

Looking at each of the lender groups (figure 4), the share of the outstanding mortgage balance that was deferred was higher in Alberta than in the other provinces and territories:

  • Among the Big 6 banks, 24.8% of the outstanding mortgage balance in Alberta was deferred. The figure was 20.7% in Newfoundland and Labrador, 9.6% in Yukon, and between 10% and 20% in the other provinces and territories.
  • Across the other banks, the share of the outstanding mortgage balance that was in deferral was 24.9% in Alberta and 22.8% in New Brunswick. This was higher than in the rest of the country.
  • Among credit unions, 23.2% of the mortgage balance in Alberta was deferred, followed by 18.1% in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Figure 4: Mortgage balance in deferral as a share of total mortgage balance

Source: CMHC calculations using Equifax data

Figure 4: Mortgage balance in deferral as a share of total mortgage balance
Geography Big 6 Banks Other Banks Credit Unions Others
Newfoundland and Labrador 20.7% 10.2% 18.1% 17.5%
Prince Edward Island 12.5% 8.6% n/a * 12.8%
Nova Scotia 14.6% 6.6% 13.6% 13.1%
New Brunswick 16.1% 22.8% 11.1% 15.1%
Quebec 17.8% 10.5% 9.8% 14.9%
Ontario 17.2% 7.0% 12.5% 14.5%
Manitoba 15.7% 9.1% 10.9% 13.4%
Saskatchewan 19.0% 12.3% n/a * 16.9%
Alberta 24.8% 24.9% 23.2% 20.7%
British Columbia 16.9% 8.5% 8.0% 15.1%
Yukon 9.6% 13.6% n/a * 5.7%
Northwest Territories 13.1% 10.3% 8.2% 13.9%
Nunavut 11.1% 1.6% n/a * 4.4%

* The numbers shown as “n/a” in the table were suppressed. For Prince Edward Island, according to data provided by the Credit Union Deposit Insurance Corporation Prince Edward Island, 6.5% of personal and commercial borrowings (in terms of the number of accounts) were in deferral as at June 30, 2020.

Source: CMHC calculations using Equifax data

The balance of non-mortgage consumer debt in deferral held by each lender group also varied across the provinces and territories (figure 5):

  • Among the Big 6 banks, the share of the balance that was in deferral was in the range of 5% to 9% across the provinces and territories.
  • Less than 1% of non-mortgage consumer debt held at the other banks was deferred in all provinces and territories other than Alberta, New Brunswick and Quebec.
  • For credit unions, 9.7% of non-mortgage consumer debt in Newfoundland and Labrador was deferred, 7.7% in New Brunswick and 7.1% in Nova Scotia. The number was lower than 5% for the other provinces and territories.

Figure 5: Balance of non-mortgage consumer debt in deferral as a share of total balance of non-consumer debt

Source: CMHC calculations using Equifax data

Figure 5: Balance of non-mortgage consumer debt in deferral as a share of total balance of non-consumer debt
Geography Big 6 Banks Other Banks Credit Unions Others
Newfoundland and Labrador 8.0% 0.5% 9.7% 3.1%
Prince Edward Island 5.5% 0.4% 0.1% 1.8%
Nova Scotia 5.7% 0.2% 7.1% 2.8%
New Brunswick 6.9% 4.1% 7.7% 2.9%
Quebec 8.1% 4.3% 0.9% 2.4%
Ontario 5.8% 0.8% 1.1% 2.9%
Manitoba 6.4% 0.3% 3.6% 7.1%
Saskatchewan 7.4% 0.2% 1.4% 3.5%
Alberta 9.0% 5.5% 4.3% 5.1%
British Columbia 7.0% 0.3% 0.7% 3.5%
Yukon 5.0% 0.9% 2.8% 2.4%
Northwest Territories 8.4% 0.4% 1.9% 5.3%
Nunavut 5.0% 0.2% 1.0% 1.1%

Source: CMHC calculations using Equifax data

Active deferrals at the end of December 2020

By the end of December 2020, the total mortgage balance in deferral had decreased by 79% from June 2020. The total balance of non-mortgage consumer debt in deferral, meanwhile, had decreased by 88%.

Footnotes

  1. This report uses data from the credit rating agency Equifax Canada on mortgage and non-mortgage consumer debt. For mortgages, the data covers approximately 80% to 85% of the Canadian market. CMHC did not access or receive personal identifiable information on individuals in producing the report. All figures are sourced from Equifax Canada unless otherwise stated. Unless otherwise noted, dollars are not adjusted for inflation. Equifax data is as is reported to the Bureau. The data may be revised at a later date due to Equifax data updates.
  2. The Big 6 banks include: Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC), Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), Bank of Nova Scotia, Toronto-Dominion (TD), Bank of Montreal (BMO) and National Bank of Canada.
  3. In terms of the number of outstanding loans, 13.5% of the outstanding loans were in deferral as at June 30, 2020.
  4. In Equifax data, the Big 6 banks include Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC), Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), Bank of Nova Scotia, Toronto-Dominion (TD), Bank of Montreal (BMO) and National Bank of Canada.
  5. In Equifax data, the “other” group includes Other Monolines, Personal Finance Companies, Sales Finance Companies and all other financial service companies not already captured.
  6. This includes credit cards, auto loans, lines of credit and other consumer debt.
Previous Duration of Mortgage Deferrals Next Consumer Credit Scores and Mortgage Deferrals

Was this page relevant to your needs?

Thank you for your feedback!

Sorry to hear that! Can you tell us about the problem?

Google Captcha Loader

For further assistance, please contact us

Thank you. Your feedback has been submitted.

Date Published: March 23, 2021

By Topic

  • Professionals
    • Project funding and mortgage financing
    • Housing markets data and research
    • Industry innovation and leadership
    • Events and speakers
  • Consumers
    • Home buying
    • Owning a home
    • Renting a home

About Us

  • CMHC's Story
  • Management and Governance
  • Our Partners
  • Corporate Reporting
  • Contact Us
  • Careers
  • CMHC on Twitter
  • CMHC on LinkedIn
  • CMHC on Facebook
  • CMHC on Instagram
  • CMHC on YouTube
Privacy Policy    |    Terms and Conditions    |    Transparency    |    Accessibility Plan    |    Accessibility Feedback     Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) ©2023 
Canada
loader icon