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Households’ credit market debt, which includes mortgages, consumer credit and loans, rose by $14.7 billion in the quarter, about half the increase seen in the third, Statscan said.

Mortgage borrowing led the demand for credit in the fourth quarter, rising by $11 billion to a total of $1.1 trillion. In the previous quarter, mortgage borrowing increased by $19.1 billion.

Consumer credit debt stood at $477 billion at the end of 2012.

Worried about stretched personal finances and high housing prices, Canada’s federal government tightened mortgage lending rules four times in the last four years to make it harder for home buyers to take on too much debt in their quest for a home.

The rule changes gradually shorted the maximum mortgage length from 40 years to 25 and put limits on how much people can borrow against their homes, among other measures.

While interest rates are not expected to rise until 2014 – the stiffer lending rules and government warnings about the high debt loads of Canadian households have helped cool the ardor of home buyers, with the hottest markets, including Vancouver and Toronto, feeling a chill.

The growth of household credit slowed to about 3% near the end of 2012, the lowest rate since 1999, and down from about 5.5% through much of the remainder of last year, according to the central bank.