Canadian households added a record $532.4 billion in financial assets as the wealthiest captured majority of the gains
Canadian households just posted the biggest jump in financial assets on record — and wealth is piling up fastest among older, higher‑income Canadians who already own markets and property.
According to Bloomberg, Statistics Canada data show household net worth hit $18.4tn in the third quarter as financial assets surged by $532.4bn, the largest increase since records began in 1990.
Financial assets now make up 54 percent of total household assets, while land and dwellings account for 41 percent.
Statistics Canada said these gains were “likely not evenly distributed among households,” noting that the wealthiest top 20 percent hold nearly 70 percent of all financial assets, leaving them “best positioned to benefit” when markets rally.
North American equity markets helped drive the move.
Bloomberg reported that Canadian financial assets got a lift from a rebound in equities, strength in artificial intelligence‑related stocks, higher gold prices and better performance from the big banks.
The Financial Post said the S&P/TSX Composite Index rose 11.8 percent in the third quarter of 2025, while the S&P 500 gained 7.8 percent, and Toronto‑Dominion Bank economist Maria Solovieva described the gains as “tremendous” and “supercharged” by market performance and a softer Canadian dollar.
Debt, however, remains a clear counterweight.
Bloomberg reported that Statistics Canada pegs the credit market debt‑to‑income ratio at 176.7 percent, with household debt still rising faster than income.
The household debt‑service ratio eased slightly to 14.64 percent, but Bank of Montreal economist Shelly Kaushik told the Financial Post that the debt‑to‑income ratio is deteriorating again, possibly because lower interest rates are encouraging more borrowing.
She said strong financial asset growth is providing a buffer but called the situation “something to watch.”
The generational split is sharpening.
Average baby boomer household wealth rose to $1,458,282 in the second quarter of 2025, up 5.4 percent year over year, while Generation X wealth jumped 11 percent to $1,331,538 — the fastest gain of any cohort.
Statistics Canada analyst James Gauthier told the Financial Post that Gen X “is going to” overtake boomers eventually and that the wealth gap “is shrinking.”
At the same time, Generation X carries the heaviest liabilities.
Gen X mortgage debt grew 3.6 percent to $208,775 per household, with other liabilities such as credit cards and lines of credit up 5 percent to $72,522.
Solovieva told the Financial Post that Gen X is “now at the stage of higher liabilities” as they upsize homes and support dependants.
Debt pressure is most acute in core working‑age households.
According to the Financial Post, Statistics Canada data show households with a main earner aged 35 to 44 hold the highest debt‑to‑income ratio in the country at 254.2 percent, even after a 2.4 percent improvement over the past year as incomes outpaced debt growth.
Gauthier described this group as “core working age,” combining higher earnings with heavier mortgage and credit burdens.
Royal Bank of Canada economist Abbey Xu told the Financial Post that a greater share of their income goes to debt repayment than for younger or older households.
Millennials sit in a more mixed position.
Millennial and Gen Z households (aged 18 to 44) lifted their average net worth by 2.3 percent to $634,435, well below Gen X but with the strongest five‑year trajectory: since the second quarter of 2020, millennials have more than doubled their average net worth, up about 113 percent.
Gauthier told the Financial Post that many likely used ultra‑low rates between 2020 and 2022 to enter the housing market, with their real estate holdings up 67 percent over five years.
But he also said housing is now “not as quite as affordable,” and that this has “put negative pressures on the capacity for millennials to generate wealth.”
The same Financial Post coverage said millennials increased their financial assets by 8.8 percent over the past year, matching boomers, but still hold the lowest financial‑asset base at $374,042 per household.
Gauthier noted that their disposable income rose only 1.7 percent year over year, compared with nearly 4 percent for all households, while Solovieva pointed to “financial tightness” among those under 35 due to high unemployment and weak wage growth.
Regionally, the Prairies stand out as a relative bright spot.
The Financial Post reported that households under 35 and those aged 35 to 44 in the Prairie provinces increased their net worth by more than 6 percent year over year, to $384,755 and $667,756 per household, respectively, with households 65 and over in the region up 7.5 percent to $1,179,128.
Solovieva told the Financial Post that average home prices over the past year rose about 8 percent in Manitoba and Saskatchewan and 4 percent in Alberta, while the national average fell roughly 2 percent, allowing existing owners to benefit from price gains without fully shutting younger buyers out.
Across the country, wealth is still most concentrated in Ontario and British Columbia, but the Financial Post reported that Gauthier sees cost‑of‑living and housing pressures limiting further net‑worth growth there, with Ontario households in particular adding debt faster than income.
