ultrarunner

Alan2005

yfw posting on the internet.

HSJones

Reading the metro today I read:

'Canadians continue to carry balances on our credit cards at an average rate of 19.5 per cent and the average Canadian household owes $40,000 in some type of consumer debt.
Even more frightening is the fact that one in 10 families report that they would not be able to handle a $500 unexpected expense.'

http://metronews.ca/voices/fun-and-f...o-why-keep-up/

Seems pretty insane to me.

ultrarunner

Surely not, if anything we've read on here is to be taken as gospel? Seems everyone has it 'together' when it comes to finances

Alan2005

It's not surprising really as BE is a self selecting group. I know this doesn't apply to everyone, but a good number of posters here are people who emigrated in the last 6 or 7 years. The group of people who bought property in the 90's early 00's and have fair amount of equity to cash in to fund the move. The typical poster on here will be quite a lot better off than your typical Canadian.

iaink

Based on the kind of candidates the skilled worker immigration system is design to select better qualified, better educated and(hopefully) better paid too at a guess.

Pretty Flowers

A Statistician writes:

Actually according to the bank of Canada, the average household debt is an eye watering 1.5 times annual income. Note this is not mortgage, but unsecured debt.

Stay scared my friends...

Shard

That would be a high figure, but it might include car leases which can be broken (albeit at a cost). Probably also includeds small businesses which are financing themselves with consumer debt. Scary, nevertheless.

Aviator

Perhaps proprietorships, but not small corporations.

Novocastrian

And, as another poster pointed out, it also includes student loans. If you're a graduate living alone and earning minimum wage and with $30-40K in unsecured debt (a common enough occurrence these days), you tend to skew that average a good deal.

Jingsamichty

I always wonder how so many people on modest salaries could afford speedboats, expensive motorbikes (mostly just for polishing), RVs, jetskis, snowmobiles...

Alan2005

When I go down the shops and see all the fancy new cars and expensive looking shiny trucks parked there I also wonder how people afford it. I assume it's on the never never.

Shard

Definitely proprietorships! Many small corporations too. Although, obviously not listed corps. It's a murky world out there.

Aviator

Definitely not corporations of any type, private or public. How would one separate a private corporation run from a home to one run from an office building? Corporate debt would not form part of household debt, corporations are separate entities to their owners.

ultrarunner