Canadian families are following their governments by going deeper into debt.

The consumer debt binge had been showing signs of easing, but the latest numbers show it speeding up again, sparked by ultra-low interest rates and rising property values.

“Total Canadian household credit growth remains very healthy - perhaps too healthy,” said BMO Nesbitt Burns chief economist Douglas Porter, citing the latest Bank of Canada statistics that show overall credit up 5.2 per cent in February from a year earlier.

That, Mr. Porter said, matched the January number and outpaced the 4.7 per cent of a year earlier.

“These robust results are being paced mostly by mortgage growth, which has popped 6.3 per cent in the past year, the highest in almost four years,” he added.

“Last year’s BoC rate cuts and the relentless strength in housing markets in two certain cities are driving mortgage growth.”

Those two cities, of course, are Vancouver and Toronto, where home prices are climbing ever higher, raising fears of a frothy market.

It’s not just debt that is growing, but also the debt burden, as measured by the key debt-to-income ratio, which, according to the last reading by Statistics Canada, stood at an elevated 165.4 per cent in the fourth quarter.

That’s because debts are rising faster than disposable income, at a “much milder” annual rate of 3.4 per cent last year, Mr. Porter said.

“In other words, the much-hyped debt/income ratio is poised to keep right on rising in coming quarters,” he added, possibly at an even faster pace that Canada has seen recently.