![\"SingleHome_Exterior1\"](\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/SingleHome_Exterior1.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nPhoto: James Bombales<\/em><\/p>\n Canadians\u2019 debt levels have started creeping upwards again, and it couldn\u2019t have come at a worse time.<\/p>\n While the country is infamous for its high levels of household debt, rising interest rates have started to exacerbate what is already a precarious situation for many homeowners, according to the latest report from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).<\/p>\n\n \u201cWith interest rates on the rise, highly indebted households could see their increased required [mortgage] payments exceed their budgets,\u201d reads the latest report from the federal housing agency. \u201cHighly indebted households have usually few debt consolidation options to respond to increasing debt services costs.\u201d<\/p>\n The ratio of debt-to-disposable income \u2014 which the CMHC uses to track household debt levels \u2014 climbed three percent in both Toronto and Vancouver in the second quarter of 2018, from 239 and 205 percent to 242 and 208 percent, respectively. Mortgages make up roughly 70 percent of total household debt in both cities.<\/p>\n And while the rate of mortgage delinquency has been falling over the course of 2018, that could start to change as interest rates continue to rise. Higher interest rates trigger a rise in mortgage rates, and the Bank of Canada is widely expected to raise rates at least twice in 2019. The current overnight rate sits at 1.75 percent, after sitting at a historic low of 0.5 percent for years.<\/p>\n