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Canadian household debt still high

OTTAWA — Two new reports on Canadian household debt take strikingly different approaches but come up with essentially the same conclusion — the situation is manageable.

OTTAWA — Two new reports on Canadian household debt take strikingly different approaches but come up with essentially the same conclusion — the situation is manageable.

TD Bank says Canadians are increasingly vulnerable to an economic shock, with those in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario the most at risk.

But TD concludes there’s no region with a current household financial crisis.

Meanwhile, BMO Bank of Montreal says the situation is not as dire as suggested by the record high level of household debt, relative to disposable income. .

BMO says household debt is at least 148 per cent of disposable income but household assets are even higher at 445 per cent of disposable income.

BMO says a recovery of stock prices since the recent lows of March 2009 is the primary reason for an improving picture of household finances.