The Bank of Canada may have been largely positive about the economy but Stephen Poloz’ statement yesterday in which he announced that the interest rate will stay at 1 per cent also raised concern about the level of household debt. New figures from Equifax show a $1.5 trillion debt burden for Canada’s households, with the debt load rising 7.4 per cent in the three months to the end of September compared with a year before. That works out at an average debt of $20,891 per person excluding mortgages. However, unlike the BoC, the credit agency says that it is not concerned about the levels as consumers are controlling their debt well. Of the $1.5 trillion owed two thirds is mortgage debt, totalling $985.1 billion.