Saskatchewan’s mortgage delinquency rate was 0.40 per cent in the third quarter of 2025.Kayle Neis/The Globe and Mail
At a time when Ontario and B.C. are emerging as hot spots for rising mortgage pain, one province has been quietly leading the country in missed payments.
Saskatchewan has the highest percentage of mortgage-holders who are behind on their payments, according to the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s most recent analysis of data from credit agency Equifax. CMHC’s report includes arrears through the third quarter ending Sept. 30.
Saskatchewan has led the country with the highest share of home loans past due for 90 days or more, for the past 31 consecutive fiscal quarters, or since the start of 2018.
In the third quarter of 2025, Saskatchewan’s delinquency rate was 0.40 per cent, followed by Newfoundland at 0.30 per cent and Manitoba at 0.26 per cent.
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A growing number of Saskatchewanians struggled to make both mortgage and consumer debt payments after the 2014 oil crash and the subsequent provincial recession.
“The percentage of missed mortgage payments in Saskatchewan began to rise around 2016, coinciding with a provincial recession and declining real [gross domestic product] driven by falling oil prices,” said Rebecca Oakes, Equifax’s vice-president of data and analytics.
Housing analysts say it’s important to note that Saskatchewan has fewer total mortgages than many other provinces, and its rate of delinquency is still low overall. For example, in the third quarter Ontario’s rate was 0.24 per cent and B.C.’s was 0.19 per cent.
In general, Canadian homeowners have weathered the big wave of pandemic-era mortgage renewals better than was expected and arrears remain historically low.
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Despite that, Saskatchewan’s rate of past-due mortgage payments remains nearly double the national rate of 0.22 per cent.
Ms. Oakes said Saskatchewan experienced real, or inflation-adjusted, GDP growth in 2024 and 2025, which correlated to more residents making their payments than before.
The number of overall mortgage delinquencies has been declining since the third quarter of 2020, she noted, adding that “the outlook is strengthening as levels continue to drop.”
The province’s economy will grow at a “moderate to a more sustainable pace” in 2026, above the national average, according to a report from TD economists.
Ms. Oakes also noted that when looking at the amount of money owed on delinquent mortgages, as opposed to the number of delinquent mortgages, provinces with hotter housing markets such as Ontario and B.C. far outpace Saskatchewan.
“Recent interest rate increases have had a more significant impact on high-balance mortgage trades,” she added. “While the percentage of missed mortgage payments [in Saskatchewan] remains higher than in some provinces, the outlook is strengthening as levels continue to drop, particularly when compared to areas like Ontario.”
The CMHC declined The Globe and Mail’s request for an interview. However, its figures show different stories when looking at Saskatchewan’s two biggest cities, Regina and Saskatoon.
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In Saskatoon, a city experiencing a bustling housing market with low supply, delinquency rates are only slightly higher than the national average, at 0.25 per cent. One media report from last December said the city had more working realtors than houses on the market: 591 available properties compared with 842 realtors, as of the end of November.
“The market seems to be really strong,” said Chris May, a realtor with Remax Saskatoon. “The inventory level is so low that even if the market did cool a bit, it’s not like there’s an abundance.”
However, in Regina, the picture is less rosy. That city’s mortgage delinquency rate is 0.45 per cent, higher than the provincial average.
Suzanne Muench, a 37-year-old tradesperson who left Regina from about 2015 to 2024, says housing prices were similar or lower when she returned. She was able to buy her house for less than the previous owners paid, and says cheap housing was a major reason she returned to the city where she grew up.
However, she’s not counting on big gains in her home’s value to fund her retirement – or on getting tenants.
“Having an investment property isn’t really a thing here,” Ms. Muench said. “I don’t know anyone in my personal life who owns rental properties.”
Mortgage broker Deb Murdoch sees wage stagnation as a common stressor among her clients, saying an increasing number of them are “panicking” as they look toward mortgage renewals in the current climate of higher interest rates.
“The price of food is higher, everything seems higher right now, but people aren’t really keeping up on the income side of it,” said Ms. Murdoch, who is based in Saskatoon. “I am doing a lot of refinancing so they can get a better cash flow.”
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She says the situation is especially hard for seniors who are staring down retirement, but still have mortgages. “Now I am looking at refinancing for many of them, extending their amortization for 30 years,” she said.
While Ms. Murdoch stressed that the relative rate of mortgage delinquencies is low everywhere in Canada, including her province, she said the slow growth of Saskatchewan’s home values contributes to the province’s higher delinquency rates.
“If homeowners are going into a default situation, they will explore the option of selling their home to pay off the mortgage,” she said. In other Canadian locations, home values would have increased, helping to “pay out the mortgage and any other debts that might be owing. In many situations, this would not be the case in Saskatchewan.”
For this reason, she said some mortgage lenders will only work with clients and homes within 50 kilometres of the province’s major centres.
“Saskatchewan is really quite different from the other provinces,” said Ms. Murdoch. “We are a slightly different animal.”
