One-in-five Canadians with debt will need to liquidate assets (e.g. cash in their RRSPs, get a second mortgage or sell a vehicle) to help pay off or pay down their debt in 2019, according to The 2019 Household Debt Survey, conducted by Leger for the Financial Planning Standards Council (FPSC) and Credit Canada.

The survey found that the need to liquidate is reported as significantly higher among males (24%) vs. females (14%) and those with children under 18 (23%) vs. without children (16%).

Meanwhile, 62 per cent of Canadians with debt expect to take on new forms of debt in 2019. Within this group, those under 55 years of age are significantly more likely to anticipate new forms of debt this year (67%) compared to those who are 55 and older (50%).

The kinds of new forms of debt that respondents expect to take on are: new/increased credit card balance (23%); new/increased line of credit (15%); new/increased vehicle loan or lease (13%) and new/increased mortgage (12%).

The full results of the survey can be found on the FPSC and Credit Canada websites.