As Canadian consumers face the squeeze of increased living costs, one insolvency professional is expecting further strain on consumers. 

Michelle Statz, a licenced insolvency trustee at Bromwich+Smith, said in an interview with BNN Bloomberg Wednesday that it appears there is a trend of rising insolvencies.

“The volumes of insolvency are on the rise and that appears to be up across the country in every province,” she said, adding that instances of insolvency are not as high as before the pandemic.

According to the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy, there were 100,184 consumer insolvencies in 2022, representing an 11.2 per cent increase from the previous year. 

Statz said that to avoid insolvency she recommends people utilize a budget and review it regularly.

Additionally, bankruptcy is not the only option for heavily indebted consumers, according to Statz, who said consumer proposals are on the rise as an alternative to bankruptcy. 

She said consumer proposals are “basically legislative debt settlement arrangements.” 

“You get the same kind of protections that you would with a bankruptcy, you get the interest relief. Basically, you can feel good because you're paying something back…this is a way of consolidating, paying back through a licenced insolvency trustee and being able to get that fresh start,” Statz said.

Check out the full video at the top of the article to learn more.