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Home equity lines of credit remain a large, slow-growing corner of Canadian household debt. Quarterly data from the Bank of Canada's chartered-bank statistics.
in HELOC and non-amortizing combined-plan balances held by Canada's chartered banks, Q4 2025
— up from $155.3 billion a year earlier, even as stand-alone HELOC balances kept shrinking.
Bank of Canada
Combined mortgage-HELOC re-advanceable plans keep growing, even as stand-alone HELOC balances shrink.
Includes stand-alone HELOC balances that sit within combined mortgage-HELOC re-advanceable plans, plus their non-amortizing portion. Bank of Canada banking and financial statistics, chartered banks only.
Combined mortgage-HELOC plans keep growing: the HELOC and non-amortizing portion of combined re-advanceable mortgage-HELOC plans at chartered banks rose from $155.3 billion to $160.2 billion between Q4 2024 and Q4 2025.
Stand-alone HELOCs are shrinking: balances on HELOCs held outside combined plans fell from $33.8 billion to $31.3 billion over the same period, as more borrowers shift into re-advanceable combined mortgage-HELOC products.
Most authorized HELOC room sits unused: combined mortgage-HELOC plans had $1.35 trillion in authorized limits at Q4 2025 against $914 billion drawn — the large majority of Canadians' available HELOC room goes untapped.
A small group draws deep into their limit: $84.4 billion of HELOC and combined-plan balances were drawn at 80–100% utilization in Q4 2025, up from $82.6 billion a year earlier — a segment worth watching for payment-shock risk.
| Quarter | HELOC & non-amortizing combined-plan balances | Stand-alone HELOC balances | Authorized combined-plan limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 Q4 | $155.3B | $33.8B | $1,250.3B |
| 2025 Q1 | $154.5B | $33.0B | $1,265.6B |
| 2025 Q2 | $157.4B | $32.5B | $1,292.5B |
| 2025 Q3 | $158.9B | $31.8B | $1,321.4B |
| 2025 Q4 | $160.2B | $31.3B | $1,352.7B |
Bank of Canada, chartered banks' HELOC and financial statistics. Authorized limit is the combined mortgage-HELOC re-advanceable plan total, most of which is undrawn.
authorized combined mortgage-HELOC plan limits at chartered banks, Q4 2025
Bank of Canada
HELOC/combined-plan balances drawn at 80–100% utilization, Q4 2025
Bank of Canada
total Canadian residential mortgage debt outstanding, Dec 2025, for comparison
CMHC
chartered banks' total real estate-secured lending (mortgages + HELOCs), Q4 2025
Bank of Canada
HELOCs sit quietly on client files until a renewal, refinance, or debt-consolidation conversation surfaces them. Brokers who track which clients are carrying a combined mortgage-HELOC plan — and how heavily they're drawing on it — can flag equity take-out, consolidation, or restructuring opportunities before a client goes looking for them elsewhere.
Last updated August 1, 2026. Each figure carries its source; projections are labelled. Page reviewed on every major source release. Information only — not advice.
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