Canadians’ mortgage costs are increasing and will keep rising, home equity is declining and credit card balances are bigger, the central bank reported in its annual review of the national financial system. A major cyberattack could also undermine confidence in banks or other key players in the smooth functioning of the economy, the bank said. (The Logic)

Talking point: The annual stock-taking isn’t panicky but does observe that households are more strained this year than last, thanks to the bank’s own efforts to fight inflation by making borrowing more expensive; mortgage renewals over the next few years will worsen that, with median payments rising by 20 per cent by 2026, according to the bank’s calculations. Recent bank failures in the U.S. and Switzerland did little damage here, but are a warning that higher interest rates can be a threat to some financial actors’ whole business models. Crypto assets, despite their volatility and light regulation, are not a systemic risk because they’re not tightly linked to the much larger traditional financial system, the bank said.