National balance sheet and financial flow accounts, second quarter 2026
Released: 2026-09-11
$20.3 trillion
Second quarter 2026
5.8% 
(quarterly change)
$29.4 billion
Second quarter 2026
-$5.0 billion 
(quarterly change)
$19.1 trillion
Second quarter 2026
2.9%
(quarterly change)
14.52%
Second quarter 2026
-0.16
(quarterly change)
Robust growth in financial markets lifts household net worth
The net worth of Canadian households—the value of all assets minus all liabilities—rose 2.9% in the second quarter of 2026 to eclipse $19 trillion, as a boon in equity markets translated into greater household net worth through higher asset valuations. Similarly, stock market performance drove the ratio of financial to non-financial assets to the highest level since 2000 with $1.24 in financial assets for every dollar of non-financial assets. However, the latest release of the Distributions of household economic accounts highlights that 69.0% of all financial assets and 49.7% of non-financial assets are held by the highest wealth quintile. As a result, market gains are not equally shared among Canadian households.
On the other side of the ledger, household liabilities, composed primarily of mortgage and non-mortgage debt, rose 1.3% in the second quarter of 2026. Residential mortgage debt represented almost three-quarters of household debt in the second quarter of 2026, while debt as a share of total household assets dipped to the lowest point (14.8%) since the first quarter of 2022.
Over the course of the second quarter of 2026, net worth per capita expanded by $13,785, putting the national average at $462,336.
Highlights
Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased 0.8% in the second quarter of 2026, after edging up 0.1% in the previous quarter. Economic growth in the second quarter was partially driven by higher exports, which were propelled by a rebound in vehicle production.
The Bank of Canada maintained the policy rate on both decision dates within the second quarter of 2026, citing persistent macroeconomic uncertainty. Meanwhile, Government of Canada treasury and bond yields were largely flat on a quarterly basis.
The household saving rate improved to 3.7% as household disposable income outpaced spending, allowing households to acquire assets or reduce liabilities. American equity markets bolstered household wealth through portfolio investment appreciation, with household net worth rising half a trillion dollars in the second quarter.
Households' ability to repay their debts, as measured by the debt service ratio, improved in the second quarter of 2026, decreasing to 14.52%; the ratio peaked at 15.16% in the first quarter of 2023. At the same time, households' indebtedness or leverage, as measured by the debt-to-asset ratio, also improved in the second quarter of 2026, reaching the lowest point in four years largely due to stronger financial markets.
International geopolitical events drove rallies in commodity prices, chiefly crude oil, which translated into higher corporate surplus for the related industries and the valuation of their respective reserves. On the other hand, equity valuations of energy companies had declined by the end of the second quarter of 2026 in response to a sharp drop in oil prices in June.
Canada's net foreign asset position grew at a record pace in the second quarter of 2026. Over two-thirds of this increase was due to a growing net foreign asset position with the United States. Additionally, an unprecedented foreign acquisition of government bonds took place in the second quarter, extending a multi-year trend of increasing foreign investment in public debt.
Chart 1
Change in household net worth by component
Mutual fund purchases persist as cash accumulation rebounds
Households continued purchasing mutual fund shares in the second quarter of 2026 (+$53.8 billion). Over the last four quarters, households registered three of the five highest investment fund inflows on record and a total net investment of over a quarter of a trillion dollars. Meanwhile, in the second quarter of 2026, households' accumulation of currency and deposits recovered from the first quarter when households recorded net withdrawals from their currency holdings. However, strong investment flows in equity, coupled with relatively weaker deposit flows, could indicate a greater appetite for investment risk among some households, while other households may be experiencing increasing challenges with affordability.
Maple bonds: what are they and where do they appear in the National Balance Sheet?
Maple bonds are bonds issued in Canada denominated in Canadian dollars by non-residents, such as foreign corporations, banks, or governments. They give Canadian investors access to non-resident issued securities without exposure to foreign currencies. As such, they allow foreign borrowers to raise funds from Canadian investors while assuming any associated currency risk.
In the second quarter of 2026, sizeable amounts of Maple bonds were issued in the Canadian market. These were part of the efforts of large US-based technology firms to raise capital for building out AI-related infrastructure.
In the National Balance Sheet Accounts, Maple bonds are included under the category "Foreign investments: bonds." This category captures all long-term debt securities held by Canadians where the issuer is a non-resident. As of the second quarter of 2026, the domestic sector with the largest holdings of foreign bonds was chartered banks with nearly $360 billion.
Residential real estate values up slightly as housing investment rebounds
The value of household residential real estate edged up 0.4% to $8,523.3 billion in the second quarter of 2026. Year over year, residential real estate declined by 0.3%; however, in the second quarter of 2026, residential investment rallied on a seasonally adjusted basis (real dollars), increasing 2.5% following two consecutive quarterly declines. The total value of resale transactions in the second quarter of 2026 rose 7.2% on a seasonally adjusted basis following a more subdued first quarter. Conversely, this marked the weakest second quarter of real estate sales since 2021.
Household borrowing declines as mortgage demand slows
Seasonally adjusted household credit market borrowing, which includes consumer credit as well as mortgage and non-mortgage loans, shed $5.0 billion in the second quarter of 2026, slowing to $29.4 billion. Mortgage borrowing dropped for the second consecutive quarter, down to $19.4 billion in the second quarter, the slowest pace of borrowing since the first quarter of 2024. Similarly, non-mortgage debt, including consumer credit, slowed to $10.0 billion (-$2.3 billion).
Chart 2
Household credit market debt, seasonally adjusted flows
Growth in household credit market debt outpaced by income gains
The seasonally adjusted stock of household credit market debt rose to $3,280.9 billion in the second quarter of 2026. At the same time, household credit market debt as a proportion of household disposable income declined from 178.6% to 176.4%, the largest drop since the third quarter of 2024. This means households held approximately $1.76 in credit market debt for every dollar of household disposable income, as income grew at over twice the pace of debt in the second quarter of 2026.
Chart 3
Household credit market debt to household disposable income, seasonally adjusted
The household debt service ratio—which measures obligated principal and interest payments on credit market debt as a proportion of household disposable income—declined to 14.52% in the second quarter, dropping by 0.16 percentage points, as growth in total debt payments (+1.0%) lagged growth in income (+2.1%). This followed the first quarter of 2026, during which the ratio remained steady at 14.68%. In the second quarter, the rise in total debt payments was mainly due to higher interest payments (+1.4%) as mortgage interest payments (+1.6%) rose by the largest amount in the last two years.
Chart 4
Household debt service ratio
Public debt issuance remains elevated as non-residents purchase federal government bonds
In the second quarter of 2026, the federal government's demand for funds remained above $30 billion and was comprised of net issuances of federal bonds (+$17.2 billion; long-term debt) and treasury bills (+$13.9 billion; short-term debt), and net repayments of loans (-$0.2 billion).
The federal government's net financial liabilities as a share of gross domestic product (GDP), which measures the value of nominal liabilities less financial assets at market value, decreased to 33.3% in the second quarter of 2026. At the same time, the effective interest paid on federal government financial liabilities increased to 3.00% (annual rates), slightly higher than the average rate in 2025 (2.90%). Meanwhile, the ratio of net debt to GDP for other levels of government fell to 14.7%, as provincial and territorial governments issued $20.5 billion in bonds following a near-record-high first quarter issuance.
The non-resident sector was the primary purchaser of government bonds in the second quarter, acquiring over $81 billion from both primary and secondary markets for all main levels of government (i.e., federal, provincial and territorial and local). In the second quarter of 2026, the net purchase of federal bonds (+$61.3 billion) was the largest acquisition on record for non-residents, nearly double the previous record set in the fourth quarter of 2025. The international purchases of Canadian government bonds were partially offset by the largest divestment by institutional investors, including chartered banks, pensions, and mutual funds.
Total government gross debt per capita crossed the six-figure mark in the fourth quarter of 2025 and continued to rise, reaching $105,455 in the second quarter of 2026; by comparison, nominal GDP per capita stood at $83,003 in the second quarter of 2026.
Chart 5
Government net financial liabilities as a percentage of gross domestic product
Private non-financial corporations' borrowing persists amid sizeable share redemptions
Private non-financial corporations' demand for funds was $6.7 billion in the second quarter of 2026. Borrowing was mostly in the form of loans (+$16.9 billion), while listed share net redemptions totalled $13.7 billion, as share buyback activity persisted.
Private non-financial corporations increased their non-mortgage loan liabilities by 3.6% over the past year, reaching $1,055.0 billion in the second quarter of 2026. The ratio of private non-financial corporations' credit market debt to GDP declined to 72.5% in the second quarter of 2026, reflecting faster growth in economic output relative to borrowing.
While equity markets were strong in the second quarter of 2026, the strength was concentrated in financial and technology industries. Meanwhile, listed shares related to energy and other natural resource industries declined by the end of the quarter due to a sharp drop in the prices of gold and oil in June. Natural resource companies' stock prices have since rebounded.
Chart 6
Demand for funds by private non-financial corporations
Record increase in international investment position buoys national net worth
National net worth—the combined value of national wealth and Canada's net foreign asset position—rose by $1,121.0 billion to $20,302.4 billion in the second quarter of 2026, eclipsing the record high set in the first quarter of 2025. Canada's international investment position, which represents the difference between international financial assets and international liabilities, increased $619.2 billion to $1,945.5 billion in the second quarter of 2026, the largest quarterly increase on record. Upward revaluations added an unprecedented $495.8 billion to Canada's net foreign asset position as major foreign stock markets had solid performances during the quarter, including the S&P 500 (+14.9%), the European stock market (+13.6%) and the Japanese stock market (+37.2%).
Canada's national wealth, which measures the total value of non-financial assets, increased by $501.8 billion in the second quarter, the largest quarterly gain since the first quarter of 2022. The value of Canada's subsoil asset reserves, which include energy, minerals and metals, jumped by $345.0 billion to $1,575.9 billion; the energy sector was the top contributor to the increase in corporate surplus within nominal GDP in the second quarter of 2026.
Chart 7
Change in national net worth by component
Note to readers
Revisions
This release of the national balance sheet and financial flow accounts for the second quarter of 2026 includes revised estimates for the first quarter of 2026. These data incorporate new and revised data, as well as updated data on seasonal trends.
Data enhancements to the national balance sheet and financial flow accounts, such as the development of detailed counterparty information by sector, will be incorporated on an ongoing basis. To facilitate this initiative as well as others, it is necessary to extend the annual revision period (normally the previous three years) at the time of the third quarter release.
Details on revisions from the third quarter of 2025 are available in "An overview of the revisions to the Financial and Wealth Accounts, 1999 to 2025."
General
Unless otherwise stated, growth rates represent the percentage change in the series from one quarter to the next; for instance, from the first quarter of 2026 to the second quarter of 2026.
Unless otherwise stated, distributional information from the Distributions of Household Economic Accounts program is from their latest release. For this second quarter of 2026 release of the national balance sheet and financial flow accounts, that would be the fourth quarter of 2025.
Unless otherwise stated, this release presents data unadjusted for seasonality.
Financial and wealth accounts on a from-whom-to-whom basis: Selected financial instruments
The data visualization product "Financial accounts on a from-whom-to-whom basis, selected financial instruments" has been updated with data from the first quarter of 2026 to the second quarter of 2026. Additionally, the entire from-whom-to-whom data set can now be easily downloaded by navigating to the Notes tab and selecting the desired file under the Data heading.
Next release
Data on the national balance sheet and financial flow accounts for the third quarter of 2026 will be released on December 11, 2026.
Overview of the financial and wealth accounts
This release of the financial and wealth accounts comprises the national balance sheet accounts (NBSA), the financial flow accounts (FFA), and the other changes in assets account.
The NBSA are composed of the balance sheets of all sectors and subsectors of the economy. The main sectors are households, non-profit institutions serving households, financial corporations, non-financial corporations, government, and non-residents. The NBSA cover all national non-financial assets and all financial asset-liability claims outstanding in all sectors. To improve the interpretability of financial flows data, selected household borrowing series are available on a seasonally adjusted basis (table 38-10-0238-01). All other data are unadjusted for seasonal variation. For information on seasonal adjustment, see Seasonal adjustment: Concepts and interpretation, 2026.
The FFA articulate net lending or borrowing activity by sector by measuring financial transactions in the economy. The FFA arrive at a measure of net financial investment, which is the difference between transactions in financial assets and liabilities (for example, net purchases of securities less net issuances of securities). The FFA also provide the link between financial and non-financial activity in the economy, which ties estimates of saving and non-financial capital acquisition (for example, investment in new housing) to the underlying financial transactions.
While the FFA record changes in financial assets and liabilities between opening and closing balance sheets that are associated with transactions during the accounting period, the value of assets and liabilities held by an institution can also change for other reasons. These other types of changes, referred to as other economic flows, are recorded in the other changes in assets account.
There are two main components to this account. One is the other changes in the volume of assets account. This account includes changes in non-financial and financial assets and liabilities relating to the economic appearance and disappearance of assets, the effects of external events such as wars or catastrophes on the value of assets, and changes in the classification and structure of assets. The other main component is the revaluation account, showing holding gains or losses accruing to the owners of non-financial and financial assets and liabilities during the accounting period as a result of changes in market price valuations.
At present, only the aggregate other change in assets is available within the Canadian System of Macroeconomic Accounts; no details are available on the different components.
Definitions concerning financial indicators can be found in "Financial indicators from the National Balance Sheet Accounts" and in the Canadian System of Macroeconomic Accounts glossary.
Distributions of household economic accounts
The NBSA for the household sector is allocated across a number of socio-economic dimensions as part of the distributions of household economic accounts. Data on wealth and its components by income quintile, age group, generation and region are available in tables 36-10-0660-01, 36-10-0661-01, 36-10-0664-01 and 36-10-0665-01.
The methodology for Distributions of household economic accounts wealth estimates can be found in the article "Distributions of Household Economic Accounts, estimates of asset, liability and net worth distributions, 2010 to 2025, technical methodology and quality report."
Products
The document, "An overview of the revisions to the Financial and Wealth Accounts, 1999 to 2025," which is part of Latest Developments in the Canadian Economic Accounts (13-605-X), is available.
The data visualization product "Financial accounts on a from-whom-to-whom basis, selected financial instruments," which is part of Statistics Canada – Data Visualization Products (71-607-X), is now available.
As a complement to this release, you can also consult the data visualization product "Distributions of Household Economic Accounts, Wealth: Interactive tool," which is part of Statistics Canada – Data Visualization Products (71-607-X).
The Economic accounts statistics portal, accessible from the Subjects module of the Statistics Canada website, features an up-to-date portrait of national and provincial economies and their structure.
The User Guide: Canadian System of Macroeconomic Accounts (13-606-G) is available.
The Methodological Guide: Canadian System of Macroeconomic Accounts (13-607-X) is available.
The Canada: Economic and Financial Data - International Monetary Fund's Special Data Dissemination Standard Plus product (13-608-X), "Other Financial Corporations Survey," also known as "Assets and liabilities of other financial corporations by sector, market value, quarterly" (table 36-10-0668-01), are available.
Contact information
For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).
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