The number of Canadians who report having considerable non-mortgage debts is on the rise, income is growing slower than their spending, and two out of five Canadians say they do not expect to escape debt in their lifetime, found the latest Manulife Bank Debt Survey, released Nov. 22.

Since spring 2019 when the survey of more than 2,000 Canadians was last conducted, Manulife Bank says the number of Canadians who report having considerable non-mortgage related debts rose to 55 per cent, up from 46 per cent earlier this year. The number of Canadians who report carrying a balance on their credit cards also jumped 12 per cent to almost 60 per cent. Overall, only 12 per cent of respondents said their income was increasing faster than their spending.

In breaking the statistics down by generation, the bank says “Baby Boomers are in much better financial shape than their Generation X and Millennial counterparts, both of which are struggling. Three-in-five Baby Boomers surveyed noted they are better off financially than their parents were at the same age.” Just under half of all Generation X and Millennial survey respondents were able to say the same.