More Canadian youth are taking on debt — and low wages mean many can't pay
A new report from Equifax Canada shows there's been a significant increase in delinquencies among Canadians under 26, with those 18 to 25 seeing a 15.1 per cent increase compared to an 8.9 per cent rise among non-mortgage holders overall.
This includes a 21.7 per cent rise from this time last year in 90-day or more delinquencies of credit cards among those under 26.
The overall population with this type of delinquency rose 15.8 per cent.
A big factor, Equifax says, comes from wages entering the job market not matching the amount they may need to pay off debt.
Story continues below advertisement
'Being able to balance the cost of living with debt levels is more difficult and more challenging, which is why through the numbers we are seeing that stress come through,' said Kathy Catsiliras, vice-president of analytical consulting for Equifax Canada.
'They are finding it more challenging to stay current on their debt obligation, married with the fact we're seeing unemployment rates increase.'
1:58
Young Canadians struggling most to pay bills: Equifax
The report also showed delinquency rates for younger drivers rose by 30 per cent on auto loans, compared to the overall rate which saw an increase of 15.3 per cent.
Get breaking National news
For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up
By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy
Catsiliras added with unemployment rates rising — Canada's rose to 6.9 per cent in April, according to Statistics Canada — some youth are without an income to pay off debt, but also have to resort to their credit card or loans to afford things like food and rent.
Story continues below advertisement
Some of that difficulty comes from a job market that is stagnating amid the ongoing trade war with the U.S.
As a result of President Donald Trump's tariff policies, some companies have had to dial back plans for hiring new workers and others have had to lay off employees.
The increase in the cost of essentials, shelter and a competitive job market are all factors that put added pressure on Canadian youth trying to pay for basic needs, said Shannon Terrell, a personal finance expert with NerdWallet.
'All of these factors combined can definitely make for a challenging financial situation in which your credit card is being used to bridge the gap, especially if you're someone who's living paycheque to paycheque,' she said.
Some of the delinquencies, however, may also be a result of more youth entering the credit market and taking on a new credit card or loan, but due to them having debt for the first time, they may make a misstep.
1:37
Credit card debt rising in Canada
'They're getting used to the fact if they charge a lot, those payments go up and they're going to owe a balance,' said Matt Fabian, TransUnion Canada's director of financial services research and consulting.
Story continues below advertisement
'Some of them, they're able to adapt and do just fine. Some of them, it's a bit of trial by fire, so we do see sometimes heightened delinquency.'
Fabian said they do see a high 'cure' rate, however, with youth who may have a 'trip and fall' eventually understanding how debt works and not missing payments.
A TransUnion Canada report released Wednesday showed youth are among two groups driving up the total debt by Canadians, with the group seeing their outstanding balances grow by 30.6 per cent compared to the previous year.
Fabian explained outstanding balances is taking a look at the overall outstanding debt Canadians owe, though the report showed youth also make up 10.3 per cent of new accounts opened.
With more youth entering the debt world by opening new credit or taking on loans, financial experts say there are still things that can be done to avoid missing payments.
'It's often this challenging balancing act,' Terrell said. 'They're (youth) trying to build their financial foundations while they're facing, in reality, some of the steepest affordability challenges Canadians have faced in recent memory.'
Terrell said if facing difficulty with debt, it can be worth having a debt repayment strategy, looking into a balance transfer credit card, debt consolidation loan or working with a financial advisor to determine the best options.
Story continues below advertisement
Budgeting can also come into play, Catsiliras said, including making sure you can afford more than the minimum payment to avoid interest building that could make paying down debt more difficult.
'Make sure from an affordability perspective before engaging into some form of new credit that you understand the obligation, you understand sort of payment requirements, and you're able to hold true to your commitments so that you don't fall into the groups we're seeing a lot of people fall into, which is a lot of delinquency,' she said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Toronto Sun
an hour ago
- Toronto Sun
Duty-free shops facing 'full-blown crisis' with no relief in sight
Published Aug 17, 2025 • 4 minute read Duty-free shops carry products that are exempt from taxes and duties. Photo by prryanwang / Getty Images/iStockphoto John Slipp took over his father's duty-free store in 1994, which had been started more than a decade earlier. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account This month, he closed the Woodstock Duty Free Shop Inc. as lower traffic at the U.S.-Canada border dealt the final blow to a business already weakened by the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, at 59, Slipp says he will have to find another source of income and is advocating for more government support for stores like his. Fewer Canadians have been heading south in recent months in response to U.S. President Donald Trump's trade war with Canada, his comments about annexing the country and because of fears among travellers about treatment at the border. In the duty-free industry, Slipp said less border traffic directly correlates to fewer sales. 'It was very difficult. The business had many good years. I certainly didn't want to be in the position of calling an end to a business career, giving up, calling it quits, both personally and in terms of my late father,' Slipp said. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. At the store's peak in the early 2000s, Slipp said there were about 15 people on staff. In March 2020, he said he laid off four people and reopened after the pandemic with two employees. Late in the summer of 2021, Slipp said duty-free stores were 'all starting from zero to rebuild again.' By the end of 2024, his business was still down about one-fifth from where it was in 2019. Then Trump returned to the White House. From January to April this year, things got worse for Slipp's store, and he ultimately decided to close based on declining sales and traffic numbers. 'Just realizing that even after the U.S. administration changes down the road, in our industry, we do not expect the border traffic to change overnight as a result of that. We believe it's going to take years,' he said. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Recent figures from Statistics Canada noted that return trips from the U.S. dropped again in July as Canadians continue to shun travel to the U.S. The number of Canadian residents returning from the U.S. by automobile was down 36.9 per cent on an annual basis in July, marking the seventh consecutive month of year-over-year declines. Barbara Barrett, executive director of the Frontier Duty Free Association, said the stores her association represents have been feeling the decline in traffic for months. 'I would describe our industry as being in a full-blown crisis, and we've been saying that for a number of months now,' she said. Sales at duty-free stores have fallen between 40 and 50 per cent year-over-year across the country since late January, with some remote crossings reporting annual declines of up to 80 per cent, the association said. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Barrett added that duty-free stores are often a microcosm of what is happening at the border. 'This should be our busy season during the summer, but it is not; it is pandemic-level traffic in the parking lots, and it has led to one store closing in the east. We are unfortunately afraid that we will likely see more closures as we draw to the end of the summer,' she said. Unlike airport stores, which are often owned by international companies, Barrett noted all of the land border stores are independently owned and are often family-run businesses. While Canadians shun U.S. trips, travel expert Claire Newell said many are opting for domestic and other international destinations. RECOMMENDED VIDEO 'We live in a country where it's still very expensive to travel domestically. And while there are many people who are choosing to travel within Canada, we also see more people heading to popular destinations,' she said. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. She said she doesn't see Canadians changing their travel habits back to normal until there is a trade deal 'that feels fair.' As lower border traffic weighs on the industry, Barrett said she is advocating for 'small regulatory changes.' 'We have some taxes on our products that, believe it or not, in a tax- and duty-free industry that our U.S. competitors don't have. So we're asking for those to be changed so we can be more competitive,' she said. 'Also, we're asking to qualify for some of these tariff relief programs or pandemic-level supports along the lines of what they did during the pandemic with wage subsidy or rent subsidy.' Barrett said the government is the landlord for many duty-free stores and said a rent deferral or subsidy would help the industry until travel patterns normalize. She added that there have been conversations between her organization and senior government officials. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Barrett said those officials agreed the association was putting forward 'small asks' to support the industry. An Aug. 2 release announcing the Woodstock Duty Free Shop's closure mentioned that the federal and provincial governments had promised tariff relief support programs to help businesses impacted by trade tensions. 'I pinned a lot of hopes on those when both levels of government made those announcements. I was reminded of the pandemic support programs,' Slipp said, adding that his business had benefited from such programs. His attention has now turned to advocating for rent deferral programs for duty-free shops renting land from either the federal government or from a bridge authority as well as loan programs for duty-free stores. When he looks at the future of the industry, he said the prospects 'are not bright.' 'I'm grieving the loss of my business, but I'm also accepting the reality that the business environment has changed and there is nothing in the bag of tricks that would suggest positive changes in this industry in the short to medium term,' Slipp said. 'I'm feeling bad that I was not able to succeed in the end and that I am having to lay to rest this business that my father and I have built and spent so many years working so hard on.' Columnists Sunshine Girls Sunshine Girls CFL Toronto & GTA
Vancouver Sun
2 hours ago
- Vancouver Sun
The Bookless Club: What happened in Vegas for you?
Vegas is in the news of late. Not because of yet another Cirque de Soleil show or a star-studded line-up at the Sphere. Nope. Vegas is in the news because, despite perennially topping the list of holiday destinations in North America, traffic is down. Way down. We did that. Canadians. We're angry, and our anger is being felt. Measurably so. In fact, there's even a name for the effect of alienated tourists on tourism. They're calling it the Trump Slump, and it's putting the squeeze on Nevada's economy. Las Vegas hotel occupancy was down 15 per cent in June this year compared to June of 2024. International visitors dropped by 13 per cent in the same period. Air Canada saw a drop of 33 per cent in passengers flying to Vegas this June compared to last June. WestJet saw about the same stats, and Edmonton-based Flair Airline experienced a 62 per cent plummet in the number of people traveling to Vegas in June this year versus a year ago. A daily roundup of Opinion pieces from the Sun and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Informed Opinion will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. All this means that unemployment is spiralling upwards in the state. Las Vegas has the third-highest unemployment rate of major cities in the U.S., and Nevada has the highest state unemployment rate, nationally. Now, it's not just Canadians impacting the Nevada economy. California is Vegas' bread and butter. One out of every five people who visit Vegas come from Southern California. One quarter of all employees in Vegas are immigrants. Some industry insiders say that Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids are casting a long shadow on tourism, a shadow felt by both visitors and workers alike. We haven't even touched upon currency issues, but it wasn't so long ago that Vegas offered such good value that currency conversion was offset by cheap buffets and free drinks. All that's gone now. Vegas is anything but a bargain. In its heyday, Vegas was a swift, affordable little getaway. A couple of hours on a direct flight took you to reliable weather and great shows. What's not to like? I can say that as my losses at the tables probably never totalled more than $14.67, but it was sure fun watching the high rollers sweating behind a stack of chips. The trouble is, there are fewer and fewer high rollers. Realizing this, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitor Authority decided back in 2003 that they needed to rebrand Vegas as more than just a place to lose money. The idea became to capitalize on the sort of hijinks that adults can get into when they're a long way from home. That idea became the now infamous slogan, 'What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas'. The ad agency that came up with this line said the concept was all about 'adult freedom and empowerment.' They were using the word 'adult' here in its loosest, third margarita, sense. The big question in Nevada is, when the Trump Slump ends, will things go back to business as usual? If not, what sort of bait are they going to need to lure us back? Jane Macdougall is a freelance writer and former National Post columnist who lives in Vancouver. She writes The Bookless Club every Saturday online and in The Vancouver Sun. For more of what Jane's up to, check out her website, Question: What happened in Vegas for you? Any stories you can share? Send your answers by email text, not an attachment, in 100 words or less, along with your full name to Jane at thebooklessclub@ . We will print some next week in this space. Question: Do you compost? Any tips? • We have weekly pickup of our yard waste/compost bins. I insist on layering in my bin, starting with yard trimmings, then compost, then yard trimmings, etc. I reserve a bucket or so of spare yard trimmings for using in winter when there is less of it available. Layering helps control the mess and odours, especially when the weather is hot. This also helps deter the local raccoons from dumping and looting the bin. Pam Holley • I live on the Sunshine Coast where we have a local company called Salish Soils that runs the curb-side green bin program. They turn our kitchen scraps and green waste into wonderful garden compost products. I was shocked to hear from them that they have to 'divert' a lot of the green bin contents (which means place in the dump) due to those pesky little plastic stickers that retailers insist on attaching to fruit and vegetable skins. The labels do not biodegrade, and contaminate the process. So, wherever you live, please be sure to remove those annoying plastic labels from all products before placing them in your compost bin. Mother Nature thanks you. Michele Libling • Maybe a bit off the topic, but important to me. Composting is important, but can be messy at times. And what to do with the grease, oil, bones, and fruit stickers? My solution would be selective composting, all the rest, including garbage and non-recyclables, would be incinerated. It may produce some toxic waste, but so do all other forms of disposal. Added benefit would be energy to heat our homes. Henk Hengeveld • In 1973, we purchased our property in Surrey. That is when I began having a five-gallon bucket in our lunchroom at work. On Saturdays, we would travel out to our property and deposit the compost in our organic pile. After our house was built and our company expanded, I had two five-gallon buckets each week. Now, 52 years later, I still have two or three piles on the go. I mix finished compost, garden soil, leaf mould and wood ashes to create my potting soil. Do not add meat, bones or cooked food to your compost. We utilize a milk jug, sitting near the sink, with the top cut off, to collect all our organics. Feed the soil and the soil will feed you. Robert Dares • I sometimes make my own bone meal for the garden. I've been known to save up chicken bones and then dessicate them when running the oven for dinner. The dried bones then get smashed with a hammer — wear goggles — and added to the soil. Works a charm and doesn't cost a cent. D. Ng • I have a bowl on the counter for scraps when preparing a meal. Then it all goes into a recycled lunch paper bag in the freezer. When that is full, off to the bin from the city that we apartment dwellers have. I miss my old house with a big composter. But as someone who started composting in the 1960s (my dad grew up in small northern Ontario sawmill villages where nobody wasted food), I can't imagine not composting. Deni Loubert
Global News
3 hours ago
- Global News
Air Canada to restart flights Sunday after Ottawa intervenes in strike
Air Canada says it plans to resume flights today after the federal government stepped in and ordered binding arbitration to end a flight attendants' strike Saturday. The Montreal-based airline says the first flights will resume this evening, but that it will take several days before its operations return to normal. Air Canada says it has been directed by the Canada Industrial Relations Board to resume operations and have flight attendants continue their duties by 2 p.m. ET. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy The federal government ordered the airline and its flight attendants back to work Saturday, ending a strike and lockout after less than 12 hours. The Canadian Union of Public Employees, which represents the flight attendants, has accused federal Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu of caving to Air Canada's demands. The Canadian Union of Public Employees, which represents more than 10,000 Air Canada flight attendants, announced its members were heading to the picket lines after being unable to reach an eleventh-hour deal with the airline, while Air Canada locked out its agents about 30 minutes later due to the strike action.
