TORONTO, ON --(Marketwired - August 10, 2016) - Ontario and British Columbia consumers are exhibiting robust credit activity through the first half of 2016, according to TransUnion's (
"As two of the nation's largest provinces, Ontario and British Columbia have proven to be resilient during challenging economic conditions brought on by the oil slump and the recent wildfire in Alberta," said Jason Wang, TransUnion's director of research and analysis in Canada. "With more than half of Canada's credit-active population residing in these two provinces, their stable performance is a positive for the overall economy."
Canadians reached a non-mortgage debt balance of $21,580 in Q2 2016, up 2.9% from $20,973 in Q2 2015. With respective growth of 3.1% and 2.0%, Ontario and British Columbia were among the provinces with the highest balance growth rates. On the city level, Toronto residents increased their balances year-over-year by 3.6%, whereas Vancouver consumers had an even bigger yearly increase of 4.6%.
| Q2 2016 Regional Credit Performance | ||||||||||||
| Geography | Average Consumer Non-Mortgage Debt Levels | Yearly Debt Level Pct. Change | 90+ Day Delinquency (DQ) Rates | Yearly DQ Change | Distribution of Credit-active Consumers | Unemployment Rates as of June 2016* | ||||||
| Canada | $21,580 | 2.89% | 2.72% | 3.59% | 100% | 6.8% | ||||||
| Alberta | $27,583 | 1.37% | 3.08% | 14.70% | 11% | 7.9% | ||||||
| British Columbia | $23,419 | 1.95% | 2.63% | -0.58% | 14% | 5.9% | ||||||
| Ontario | $21,520 | 3.12% | 2.79% | -0.22% | 39% | 6.4% | ||||||
| Quebec | $17,809 | 3.83% | 2.12% | 5.33% | 23% | 7.0% | ||||||
| Saskatchewan | $24,036 | 2.86% | 3.38% | 11.59% | 3% | 6.1% | ||||||
| * Source: Statistics Canada |
"Alberta and Saskatchewan experienced yearly double-digit percentage delinquency increases, but this was not unexpected as we had already forecast this to happen last summer," said Wang. In July 2015, TransUnion released a study that predicted both provinces would face delinquency pressures in 2016 and 2017 due to falling oil prices.
While these areas face pressure on the delinquency front, Ontario's serious delinquency rate (the ratio of all accounts 90 or more days past due for all non-mortgage loan types) dipped from 2.80% in Q2 2015 to 2.79% in Q2 2016. British Columbia's delinquency rate was also flat, moving from 2.64% in Q2 2015 to 2.63% in Q2 2016. In contrast, the national average rose nearly 4% in that same time, increasing from 2.63% in Q2 2015 to 2.72% in Q2 2016.
"A year and a half into the oil slump, the lending industry has deployed resources in monitoring and managing the risks in the oil patch," added Wang. "With these risks being actively managed, it may benefit lenders to also consider growth opportunities in the non-oil provinces, such as Ontario and British Columbia. The key of course is for lenders to always seek balance in their lending strategies."
More information about the Q2 2016 TransUnion Canada Industry Insights Report can be found here .
About TransUnion Canada Industry Insights Report TransUnion's Canada Industry Insights Report is an in-depth, full population-based solution that provides statistical information every quarter from TransUnion's national consumer credit database, aggregated across virtually every active credit file on record. Each file contains hundreds of credit variables that illustrate consumer credit usage and performance. By leveraging the Industry Insights Report, institutions across a variety of industries can analyze market dynamics over an entire business cycle, helping to understand consumer behaviour over time and across different geographic locations throughout Canada. Businesses can access more details about and subscribe to the Industry Insights Report at http://www.transunioninsights.ca/IIR/ .
About TransUnion (
Dave Blumberg TransUnion dblumbe@transunion.com 312-972-6646
