Canadians are riding the recent stock market rally to bolster their wealth, more than offsetting a slump in real estate. In the fourth quarter, households saw their net worth – the value of all assets minus all liabilities – rise by $290-billion or 1.8 per cent to roughly $16.4-trillion, Statistics Canada said Wednesday in a report. Financial assets, such as stocks and bonds, jumped by 5 per cent as investors bid up prices in anticipation of lower interest rates. This increase outweighed a 1.
9-per-cent drop in the value of residential real estate, a second consecutive quarterly decline. On the other side of the ledger, Canadians were cautious about taking on debt. Financial liabilities rose by 3.4 per cent in 2023, the weakest accumulation of household debt in a calendar year since 1990. The numbers suggest that many Canadians are benefiting from asset diversification at a fraught time for personal finances, given the threats posed by higher interest rates and more onerous debt payments. Still, Statscan cautioned that not everyone is reaping the benefit