TORONTO - Canadians continued to pile up non-mortgage debt compared with a year ago but delinquency rates remained low, according to credit monitoring agency TransUnion.

Average consumer non-mortgage debt balances rose to $21,686 at the end of the third quarter, up from $21,195 in the same quarter last year.

The increase came as non-mortgage debt levels rose 3.57 per cent to $17,969 in Quebec and 2.64 per cent to $21,620 in Ontario.

However, while borrowing increased, serious national delinquency rates stood at 2.70 per cent, up from 2.62 per cent a year ago.

The change came as delinquency rates rose 13.39 per cent to 3.13 per cent in Alberta and 11.92 per cent to 3.46 per cent in Saskatchewan.

TransUnion forecast average debt levels to continue to rise over the next two years, but delinquency rates to move lower.