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Canadians continue to pile on the debt, but they are paying their bills with ease, at least in certain parts of the country, says a new report from Equifax, a credit monitoring report.

Total consumer debt in the Great White North reached just under $1.59 trillion, up from $1.57 trillion in the second quarter and $1.51 trillion a year ago. Two-thirds of that debt is related to mortgage debt. When taking mortgages out of the equation, the average consumer debt in the third quarter was $21,312, up from $20,891 from the previous year.

Canadians’ ability to borrow and pay their debt stems from record-low interest rates thanks to the Bank of Canada. With rising debt loads and the possibility of a rate hike in the near future, economists are worrying that debt could be a huge risk for the national economy.

With near-zero interest rates, the housing bubble continues to balloon. Many reports from financial institutions and the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) warn that the country’s real estate market is overheating, and when it pops that millions of Canadians will be in a serious mess.

Meanwhile, as Canadians pile on the debt, consumers are finding it easy to maintain this high level of debt. The 90-day delinquency rate fell to its lowest level in six years at 1.05 percent. However, the delinquency rate is starting to impact households in the oil patch.

From the Business News Network:

“In Alberta, delinquency rates soared 13.4 per cent in the third quarter of the year, compared to the same period last year, while the number of consumers behind on their payments rose 8.4 per cent in Saskatchewan and 5.8 per cent Newfoundland. “Personal bankruptcy rates have also been rising across the Prairies despite the overall number of bankruptcies across Canada dropping more than 9 per cent on an annualized basis.”

With the Christmas season upon, consumer debt will likely soar once again, and the post-holiday hangover will have an effect on delinquency rates.

“Consumer debt levels continue to rise and those numbers are sure to increase following the holidays,” Regina Malina, senior director of decision insights at Equifax Canada, said in an interview with the Financial Post. “However, despite other market research we’ve seen predicting a boom in spending over the holidays, we expect most Canadians will continue to manage their spending wisely. Demand for new credit has eased off.”

Unfortunately, Canada’s national savings rate is 2.9 percent.