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You do everything you can to ensure your mortgage payments are made on time. So why is your credit score slowly getting worse? If you're like many Canadians, it's because your overall debt is climbing and you don't pay as much attention to those other loans.

Like many journeys, the road to bad credit starts with a single step – or misstep in this case. Whatever your situation, once you've started having trouble with your credit score, it can be difficult to find your own way back to a strong financial situation. But you have some money saved in your RRSP, so why shouldn't you use that to get out of debt? While it seems like an easy solution now, you might regret your decision in the future.

For the past few years, credit has been easy to come by for most Canadians. However, for every individual who manages their credit well, there are horror stories of monster loans and mountains of debt. According to an annual report by credit agency TransUnion, individual debt among Canadians is increasing. A typical individual is currently carrying $21,686 in debt, not including their mortgage – an increase of 2.3% from the same time in 2015.

While Canadians may be wary of the outlook for the economy, it’s done little to dampen their debt.

Homeowners in British Columbia and Alberta have the highest average mortgage debt according to StatsCan data.

A report from the Globe and Mail revealed that the number one financial resolution is paying off debt. While many people would love to simply pay their bills and be debt free, that's not often the case.