“The total level of insolvencies in Manitoba, B.C. and Alberta is above its pre-pandemic one; a situation that suggests a rise in households struggling with their debt load,” said St-Arnaud.
BMO chief economist Douglas Porter said March’s spike is an eye opener, though when seasonally adjusted the numbers don’t look quite so alarming, as his chart below shows. “Still, the key takeaway is that the extreme lows of the pandemic are now behind us, and more typical economic drivers are taking hold,” he wrote in a note.A recent report from Royal Bank of Canada predicted that“The noticeable improvement in Canadians’ finances early in the pandemic wasn’t sustainable,” said RBC economist Robert Hogue and research associate Mishael Liu.Article content
“These gains are now reversing and will erode further amid a softening economy and higher interest rates.”will continue to slow the economy and as they do, unemployment will rise, pushing more Canadians to renegotiate their debt or declare bankruptcy.Among the provinces, Nova Scotia and Manitoba led the rise with insolvencies soaring 40 per cent over last year. Ontario insolvencies were up 31 per cent, Alberta, 30 per cent, B.C., 28.5 per cent and Quebec, 26 per cent.