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Residential mortgage debt outstanding in Canada

Canada's residential mortgage market crossed $2.4 trillion at the end of 2025. Here's how outstanding balances have grown, sourced from CMHC and the Bank of Canada.

Last updated: August 1, 2026 Data: 2024–2025 Sources cited below
Headline number
$2.4T+

in Canadian residential mortgage debt outstanding economy-wide as of December 2025

— up 4.8% year-over-year, a faster pace than 2024 but still below the historical average.

CMHC Residential Mortgage Industry Report

№ 01

Chartered-bank lending, quarter by quarter

The Bank of Canada's quarterly banking statistics track real estate-secured lending at Canada's chartered banks, the most complete verifiable subset of the market.

Chartered banks' total real estate–secured lending ($ billions, quarter-end)

$1.90T $1.95T $2.00T $2.05T 1,976.1 1,984.2 2,007.2 2,031.6 2,050.3 LATEST 2024 Q4 2025 Q1 2025 Q2 2025 Q3 2025 Q4

Bank of Canada, chartered banks' real estate-secured lending (residential), quarter-end balances net of allowances. Covers Canada's largest chartered banks only; excludes credit unions and non-bank lenders.

Key takeaways

  1. 1

    The market crossed $2.4 trillion in 2025: CMHC confirms Canadian residential mortgage debt passed the $2.4-trillion mark in December 2025, up 4.8% year-over-year — faster than 2024, though still below the historical average pace.

  2. 2

    Chartered banks kept growing even as new borrowing slowed: real estate-secured lending at Canada's largest banks rose every quarter through 2025, from $1.98 trillion to $2.05 trillion, even as Statistics Canada recorded the slowest pace of net new mortgage borrowing since early 2024 in Q1 2026.

  3. 3

    Debt is growing faster than income again: Statistics Canada's household credit-market-debt-to-income ratio climbed for a sixth consecutive quarter to 179.6% in Q1 2026 — about $1.80 of credit-market debt for every dollar of disposable income.

  4. 4

    HELOCs are a growing slice of the balance: the HELOC and non-amortizing portion of combined mortgage-HELOC plans at chartered banks grew from $155.3 billion to $160.2 billion over the same five quarters, even as stand-alone HELOC balances shrank.

The data

Sourced
QuarterTotal real estate–secured lendingOf which: mortgage & amortizing combinedOf which: HELOC & non-amortizing
2024 Q4$1,976.1B$1,743.1B$155.3B
2025 Q1$1,984.2B$1,751.8B$154.5B
2025 Q2$2,007.2B$1,770.6B$157.4B
2025 Q3$2,031.6B$1,794.2B$158.9B
2025 Q4$2,050.3B$1,812.1B$160.2B

Bank of Canada banking and financial statistics, chartered banks only. HELOC figures include the HELOC and non-amortizing portion of combined mortgage-HELOC plans.

№ 02

The debt picture beyond the balance

+4.8%

year-over-year growth in residential mortgage debt, Dec 2025

CMHC RMIR

179.6%

household credit-market debt as a share of disposable income, Q1 2026

Statistics Canada

$22.6B

net mortgage loan originations (seasonally adjusted), Q1 2026 — the slowest pace since Q1 2024

Statistics Canada

14.75%

household debt service ratio, Q1 2026

Statistics Canada

What should brokers do with these numbers?

A market still growing past $2.4 trillion — even as new originations cool — means the existing book of business (renewals, refinances, and equity take-out) matters more than new-purchase volume alone. Brokers who track which of their clients' balances are growing relative to income, and who can move quickly when a client needs to refinance or restructure, are better positioned as debt-service pressure rises.

Sources & methodology

  1. 1.Bank of Canada — Chartered banks: Home equity lines of credit (HELOCs) bankofcanada.ca
  2. 2.CMHC — Renewal wave peaks but still dominates mortgage market cmhc-schl.gc.ca
  3. 3.Statistics Canada — National balance sheet and financial flow accounts, first quarter 2026 www150.statcan.gc.ca

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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