Consumer fundamentals are weaker than they have been in almost 15 years, said Tal, adding that about 70 per cent of household debt in Canada is related to mortgages.
Tal said the household debt-to-income ratio in Canada hit a record high in December and is accelerating at a rate not seen since the mid-1990s.
Growth in real disposable income has been trending downwards for the past year and "to a certain extent debt is replacing income as a major driver of consumer purchases," Tal said.
"Individuals are clearly taking on a lot of debt relative to the amount of income they have.
How sustainable future growth in consumer spending is in the short term is questionable," he said.
Foerster said, with interest rates expected to climb, "it is just going to make it more difficult for any consumers or mortgage holders who are tied into variable rates to make up the payments.