Here's how much the average Calgary homeowner has in debt

Calgary homeowner debt falls in the middle when compared to other Canadian cities; however, our non-mortgage debt is the highest in the country.

A new report from fintech company Borrowell revealed that Calgary homeowners currently have an average of $390,698 in debt, placing seventh-highest out of 15 major Canadian cities.

Vancouver homeowners have the highest amount of debt in the country, with an average of $629,803. Toronto comes in at a close second, with $608,296. Regina had the lowest amount, with an average of $294,292.

“High rental prices and a hot housing market are making it extremely difficult for those in Vancouver, Toronto, and other major cities to get their foot in the housing market and safely obtain some form of financial stability,” said Andrew Graham, co-founder and CEO of Borrowell.

Not too surprisingly, the vast majority of money owed is in the form of mortgages. In Calgary, this breaks down to $354,368 in mortgage debt and $36,330 in non-mortgage debt for homeowners.

For Calgarians who don’t own a home, their debt averages out to $23,762.

Interestingly, the report found that those who don’t own homes were actually more likely to miss bill payments.

Borrowell

Calgary had a higher missed bill payment rate than the national average of approximately 11 out of 100 for homeowners and 23 out of 100 for non-homeowners. The report noted that 16 out of 100 Calgarians who owned homes and 28 out of 100 non-homeowners missed payments.

“It’s clear why the rising cost of living is the number one issue for Canadians leading up to this election, with many communities across the country facing significant strain,” said Graham.

“One in every five Canadians on average has at least one missed bill payment. Every bill payment matters, and one delinquent bill can be the difference between being approved or denied for additional credit.”

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And while Calgary isn’t among the Canadian cities with the biggest mortgage balances, it has the highest non-mortgage debt balance. The average Calgarian has $26,760 in non-mortgage debt.

Edmonton came in second for the highest non-mortgage debt balance in major Canadian cities with $25,291, falling just ahead of Saskatoon, which had $25,032.

According to the report, the cities with the lowest levels of non-mortgage debt were Montreal ($11,826), Hamilton ($17,992), and Toronto ($20,006).

With files from Laura Hanrahan