Canadian consumer insolvencies climbed for a second straight quarter to their highest level since 2009, according to data the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy released this week.
Consumer insolvency filings reached 37,523 in the second quarter, the OSB reported — a pace 6.9% higher than a year earlier and the most insolvency filings for any quarter since 2009, working out to roughly 17 Canadians filing every hour. That’s 402 more than the first quarter’s 37,121.
Read: Canadian Insolvencies Hit Post-2009 High—and the Pace Is Accelerating
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Both quarters this year have topped the pace set in 2009, the worst full year in the more than three decades the OSB has tracked insolvency data. Last year ranked as the second-worst on record, and 2026 is now on pace to challenge 2009 for the top spot.
Consumer bankruptcies, where filers forfeit assets to cover their debt, rose 13.5% from the first quarter and 10.3% year over year to 8,600. Consumer proposals, which let filers repay creditors on a longer timeline without giving up assets, totaled 28,923, a slight pullback of roughly 2% from Q1 that still left the figure 5.9% higher than a year ago.
Read: Canadian Insolvencies Hit 17-Year High as Homeowner Filings Surge 11% in a Quarter
Scott Terrio, a manager of consumer insolvency at Hoyes, Michalos & Associates, pointed to record credit-card and tax debt, plus homeowners now confronting debt loads built up during the 2010s housing run-up. He noted that homeowners tend to favor proposals over bankruptcy specifically because bankruptcy puts their assets at greater risk.
