Canadian household wealth increased again at the end of 2025 due to gains in financial markets while housing values continued to ease.
Household net worth rose by $230.2 billion in the fourth quarter of 2025, reaching $18.6 trillion. Over the full year, household wealth grew by more than $1 trillion, an increase of 5.8 percent, mainly because of higher financial asset values.
Financial assets increased 2.5 percent in the quarter, rising by $296.9 billion to $11.95 trillion. Strong equity markets played a key role. The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 5.6 percent during the fourth quarter and ended 2025 28.2 percent higher than a year earlier, its largest annual increase since 2009.
By comparison, the S&P 500 rose 2.4 percent in the quarter and finished the year 16.4 percent higher.
The wealthiest 20 percent of households hold about 65.5 percent of Canada’s total wealth, with average net worth around $3.5 million per household. The bottom 40 percent hold about 3.1 percent, with an average net worth of about $82,100.
Housing values declined slightly. The value of residential real estate held by households fell 0.4 percent in the fourth quarter, bringing the total to $8.45 trillion. By the end of the year, real estate values were 0.2 percent lower than at the end of 2024.
Residential property sales in the fourth quarter were 8.9 percent lower than during the same period in 2024.
Household borrowing continued to increase, though the pace slowed slightly. Households added $36.2 billion in credit market borrowing in the fourth quarter, including $28.7 billion in mortgage borrowing and $7.5 billion in non-mortgage credit.
Total household credit market debt surpassed $3.2 trillion by the end of 2025. The ratio of household debt to disposable income rose to 177.2 percent, meaning households carried $1.77 in credit market debt for every dollar of disposable income.
The household debt service ratio declined to 14.57 percent, the second quarterly decrease in a row, as interest costs on mortgages and other loans edged lower.
Economic growth slowed toward the end of the year. Real gross domestic product declined 0.2 percent in the fourth quarter, following 0.6 percent growth in the third quarter. For 2025 as a whole, the economy grew 1.7 percent, the slowest annual growth since the contraction in 2020.
Canada’s national net worth stood at $19.3 trillion at the end of 2025.