Credit card debt has reached historic highs and delinquency rates are rising.
BDO Debt Solutions president Nancy Snedden sees it as an unsettling trend.
Inflation is beginning to come down but virtually everything costs more, especially fuel, food and debt.
People are turning to credit cards to keep a cash flow but Sneddon says that will only get a person into more trouble.
Nancy Snedden
In addition to carrying more debt on existing cards, Canadians have gone out and acquired 1.4 million new credit cards. Sneddon says Canadians are each currently carrying over $21,000 in non-mortgage debt but in Newfoundland and Labrador, that amount is just over $23,000.
Insolvencies are also up—by 17 per cent in January in NL. She sees expanded credit card use as one of the reasons.
