“We’re on a dangerous path” when it comes to the amount of debt most of us carry.

That’s according to Ian Penney, the President of Janes and Noseworthy, a licensed insolvency trustee.

2019 was the busiest year ever for consumer insolvency filings in Newfoundland and Labrador, while 2018 had been the biggest year prior to that.

Those from Newfoundland and Labrador and Quebec have the dubious distinction of carrying the greatest amount of debt among Canadians—while Canadians as a whole carry more debt that Americans.

Penney says Canadians are accumulating more household debt, a third more than Americans despite the fact that in the US mortgage interest is tax-deductible.

That leaves a lesser incentive for Americans to pay off their mortgages, yet they carry less debt.

Penney says tougher economic circumstances and easy access to bank products like lines of credit and home equity loans may have something to do with that.

He says you should not be borrowing money at interest rates greater than 10 per cent. That, he says, is a big warning sign.

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