Every so often, the Office of Superintendent of Bankruptcy publishes statistics showing how many people across Canada are filing a personal bankruptcy or a consumer proposal.
This morning I came across the latest numbers for the Waterloo region and I thought I’d share some of the numbers with you.
Between July and September of 2011, 907 people filed either a personal bankruptcy or a consumer proposal. This is a substantial drop of 13.5% from the 1087 people that filed in the same time period of 2010.
What is interesting to note is that the overall % of people choosing to file a Consumer Proposal rather than personal bankruptcy increased.
Between July and September of 2010, of the 1087 people that needed help with their debts, 61% of them filed a bankruptcy and 39% filed a consumer proposal. 
This compares to 2011 where the split is almost 50/50.
Why is this?
Throughout late 2010 and early 2011 the local economy had stabilized somewhat after the turbulent times of 2008 and 2009. As people’s job security increased and more and more people found a place back in work, less and less insolvencies needed to be filed. When people return to work, they generally have more money, so therefore rather than just filing a bankruptcy on debts that had been incurred, more people who needed help with debts still found that a better solution was to offer the creditors a consumer proposal and pay back as much of the debt as they could realistically afford to do so.
Is it all good news?
Not necessarily. Although these numbers are encouraging, they might not tell the whole picture. Even though the number of insolvencies has dropped in 2011 compared to 2010, they are still higher than the numbers published in 2006, 2007 and 2008…
Also, since it is now January 2012 and the OSB has only just published these numbers that run up to the end of September 2011, we know that since that time the unemployment rate numbers that have been published more recently have started to increase again. If more people are finding themselves back out of work, this will in turn put more pressure on their finances and cash flow and their ability to be able to pay back debt.
Tune in this Saturday at noon to the am570 Ask The Experts Show to hear myself and Doug Hoyes talking about these issues and the various options you have that can help you to deal with a debt.
Our Cambridge office is open 5 days a week and we’re easy to reach if you’d like to talk to us about your situation and learn more about your options.
As you can see from the numbers above, you’re not alone. Send us an email or pick up the phone and call us at (519) 622 3773. It’s free to talk to us and it’s free to come and meet with us in person in our Cambridge Office.
