Skyrocketing number of people in Ontario are defaulting on housing and other bills

Ontario is once again leading the charge for consumer debt in Canada, with a growing number of residents failing to pay off their mortgages, credit cards and other bills. And the problem is, as you might have expected, worst in and around the exorbitant hub of Toronto.

A new report from Equifax Canada shows that the number of people in the province who have defaulted on their required monthly credit payments for 90 days or more has shot up by 29.8 basis points (compared to the same time last year), which is 15.2 points higher than the national average.

In the GTA specifically, meanwhile, this figure surged by a whopping 39.1 basis points year-over-year — something the firm attributes to the region being among those "most heavily impacted by high cost of living, economic uncertainty, and exposure to the auto and steel sectors."

Equifax Canada

As it stands now, the average person in Toronto is carrying around about $21,350 in debt — and that's not even taking mortgages into account — which is a 3 per cent uptick from last year.

About 2.2 per cent of all credit customers in the city are also now considered delinquent in their payments — the third-worst of any major Canadian city by this metric, after only Fort McMurray and Edmonton, and the largest year-over-year jump in credit delinquency rate of any locale examined.

Equifax Canada

When it comes to paying down our mortgages, Ontarians are struggling the most, too.

"Regionally, Ontario continues to see the sharpest increases in missed payments on non-mortgage products... [and] Ontario and British Columbia continue to be the primary drivers of mortgage delinquency rates, which remain elevated despite a slight deceleration in their rate of increase," Equifax states in its report.

It adds that "conversely, mortgage missed payments in other Canadian regions are still below pre-pandemic levels."

As of the second quarter of this year, Ontario's 90+ day balance delinquency rate for mortgage loans sits at 0.27 per cent (followed by B.C.'s, which is a substantially lower 0.19 per cent), marking an 11 basis point spike compared to Q2 2024 (B.C.'s, by comparison, rose only 5 basis points).

The average year-over-year increase for the remainder of the country was only 0.09 basis points, with the experts noting "levels largely consistent with the previous year" outside of ON and B.C.

"In regions such as Ontario, both mortgage and non-mortgage consumers are experiencing substantial financial strain," the report says.

In total, Canada's consumer debt climbed 3.1 per cent from April-June of last year to the same time in 2025, reaching a staggering $2.58 trillion.

But, feeling the pinch, people seem to be spending less, though this varies by group. Mortgage holders, the report found, are relying less on credit cards than non-homeowners as the gap between the two demographics grows.

Ontario sees another enormous jump in people not paying housing and other bills https://t.co/MZtYPoFMBl

— blogTO (@blogTO) February 27, 2025

"Households continue to feel the pressure of rising costs for vehicles, groceries, mortgages and rent, but consumer spending on credit cards appears to be declining," the credit brand says. 

"When adjusted for inflation, the average credit card spend per consumer was over $2,100 in June, a 0.4 per cent decrease from June 2024. For individuals without a mortgage, spending levels have not dropped, but have instead seen a slight 0.14 per cent increase year-over-year... suggesting that financial pressures are impacting consumer groups differently."