Measuring Vulnerabilities in the Non-Financial Corporate Sector Using Industry- and Firm-Level Data

Aggregate non-financial corporate debt-to-GDP has been growing rapidly in recent years and is at an all-time high. This growth began in 2011 and accelerated as the oil price shock affected the Canadian economy. In light of these developments, we use industry- and firm-level data to measure vulnerability indicators in the non-financial corporate sector. We find that developments in the oil and mining sectors have had a noticeable impact on aggregate non-financial corporate indebtedness and other vulnerability indicators.