1-855-514-9358Bankruptcies affect people from all walks of life. Married, divorced, single, with children or without, the truth is that more than 44,000 households in Ontario each year find themselves needing to turn to an Ontario bankruptcy trustee to file for insolvency.
- Two thirds of insolvencies are caused by an unexpected event such as a reduction in income, marital breakdown or health related problem. Only one third of all bankruptcies or proposals are caused by financial mismanagement alone.
- 81% of all bankrupt debtors are working at the time of filing. These are hard-working Ontarians who find themselves overwhelmed by debts that accumulated over a long period of time.
- 28% of insolvent Ontarians were divorced or separated. Divorce is one of the leading causes of bankruptcy. Living arrangements change, expenses increases however both the original family debts and additional divorce related debts don’t go away.
- Almost 1 in 3 insolvent debtors own a home and most are able to keep their home.
- Credit card debt is the number one problem for insolvent debtors although many also had high bank loans, student loan debt or outstanding tax debts.
2013 Ontario Bankruptcy Statistics
According to statistics released by the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy, the personal bankruptcy rate in Ontario decreased in 2013. What is more impressive is that more than half of all Ontario insolvency filings are now consumer proposals. More and more Ontarians are finding a consumer proposal as a viable alternative to settling their debt problems while avoiding bankruptcy.
| Major Ontario Cities as reported by the OSB | 2013 | Growth | Bankruptcies | Proposals |
| Barrie | 921 | -14.1% | 463 | 458 |
| Brantford | 508 | -15.1% | 251 | 257 |
| Guelph | 371 | -5.6% | 206 | 165 |
| Hamilton | 2,497 | -11.2% | 1,136 | 1,361 |
| Kingston | 492 | -8.4% | 319 | 173 |
| Kitchener and Cambridge | 1,543 | -5.9% | 795 | 748 |
| London | 2,067 | -8.3% | 1,190 | 877 |
| Oshawa | 1,441 | -9.0% | 550 | 891 |
| St. Catharines and Niagara | 1,683 | 12.6% | 845 | 838 |
| Toronto (GTA) | 16,371 | -9.2% | 6,714 | 9,657 |
| Thunder Bay | 293 | -20.8% | 203 | 90 |
| Windsor | 1,322 | -4.8% | 794 | 528 |
| Ontario | 44,134 | -6.9% | 21,773 | 22,361 |
| Canada | 118,678 | 0.2% | 69,224 | 49,454 |
For more news and information about bankruptcy in Ontario read our articles about Ontario bankruptcies. If you need information about bankruptcies in Canada, see our sister site Bankruptcy-Canada.com.
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If you are experiencing debt problems in Ontario, talk to an Ontario bankruptcy trustee in your community.