A breakdown of the 140,669 filings recorded in the year to January 31, 2026 — and what the shift toward consumer proposals says about household finances.
Consumer insolvencies in Canada are being filed at a rate of roughly 385 a day, according to federal data cited this month by licensed insolvency trustee firm Harris & Partners. Figures from the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy show 140,669 consumer insolvency filings in the 12 months ending January 31, 2026 — an increase of 2.2% over the preceding 12-month period.
The headline number matters less than its composition. Bankruptcies climbed faster than proposals, proposals now dominate the caseload, and households — not businesses — account for almost the entire national insolvency file. Together, the breakdown sketches a picture of financial strain that is broad rather than concentrated.
140,669 Filings in the 12 Months to January 31, 2026
The 140,669 total covers consumer filings only, measured over a rolling 12-month window rather than a calendar year. Dividing that figure across the period produces the roughly 385-a-day average that Harris & Partners highlighted, or close to 400 filings for every day of the year.
The 2.2% year-over-year rise is modest as a percentage, but it lands on top of an already elevated base. It also continues, rather than reverses, the direction of travel in Canadian household finances, where borrowing costs and living costs have both been under scrutiny for several consecutive quarters.
| Measure | 12 months to Jan 31, 2026 | Year-over-year change |
| Total consumer insolvencies | 140,669 | +2.2% |
| Consumer bankruptcies | 30,417 | +4.6% |
| Consumer proposals | 110,252 | +1.5% |
| Average filings per day | About 385 | Not specified |
Bankruptcies Rose 4.6% While Proposals Rose 1.5%
The two categories moved at noticeably different speeds. Consumer bankruptcies increased 4.6% to 30,417, roughly three times the 1.5% growth rate recorded for consumer proposals, which reached 110,252.
That gap is worth pausing on. Proposals remain by far the larger category in absolute terms, but the faster growth in bankruptcies suggests a rising share of filers arriving at the process with too little income or too few assets to support a negotiated repayment plan.
Neither figure, on its own, describes the severity of individual cases. The data counts filings, not the size of the debts behind them, so a rise in volume does not automatically mean a proportionate rise in the value of debt being written down or restructured.
Why Consumer Proposals Now Make Up 78.4% of Filings
Proposals accounted for 78.4% of all consumer insolvency filings in the period — close to four in five. The dominance of the proposal route has become the defining structural feature of the Canadian insolvency system over the past decade.
As general background, a consumer proposal is a formal offer administered by a licensed insolvency trustee under federal legislation, in which a debtor proposes to repay creditors a portion of what is owed over an agreed term. Bankruptcy, by contrast, is a separate legal process with different consequences for assets and for the debtor’s credit record. The specific terms, eligibility thresholds and outcomes in any individual case were not detailed in the data cited here.
For readers, the practical takeaway is that the majority of Canadians entering the formal insolvency system are doing so through a repayment mechanism rather than a liquidation one — which is why aggregate filing counts alone can overstate how many households are walking away from debt entirely.
Households Account for 96.7% of All Canadian Insolvencies
Consumer cases represented 96.7% of every insolvency filed in Canada during the period, leaving the remaining 3.3% to business filings. The imbalance underlines that the pressure showing up in the federal insolvency register is overwhelmingly a household story, not a corporate one.
That distinction matters for how the numbers should be read alongside other indicators. Commercial credit conditions and consumer credit conditions can move independently, and a stable business insolvency picture does not offset rising strain on personal balance sheets.
It also connects to what lenders have been reporting. Canada’s largest banks have been setting aside more for loans that have stopped performing, with Big Six impaired loans nearly tripling to $37.5 billion in recent reporting — a parallel signal that credit stress has been building rather than easing.
More Than a Third of Respondents Skipped Essentials
Separate research released alongside the insolvency figures found that more than a third of respondents had skipped essentials because of financial pressure. The survey provides the qualitative counterpart to the filing statistics: households cutting back on necessary spending well before, or instead of, entering a formal insolvency process.
The specific sample size, methodology, field dates and the exact categories counted as “essentials” were not specified in the material published. Readers should treat the one-in-three figure as an indicative measure of self-reported strain rather than a precise national estimate.
Even so, it aligns with what other Canadian datasets have been showing about the thinning of financial buffers. Regional evidence of household savings sliding as financial resilience erodes points to the same underlying dynamic: less room to absorb a job loss, a rate reset or an unexpected bill.
What Rising Consumer Insolvencies in Canada Signal for Households
Insolvency data is a lagging indicator. Filings typically follow months — sometimes years — of missed payments, refinancing attempts and informal arrangements, which means the 12 months to January 2026 reflect financial decisions made well before that window closed.
That lag is why the numbers do not move in lockstep with monetary policy. The Bank of Canada’s extended run of rate holds has stabilised borrowing costs at the margin, but households that took on debt at earlier rate levels are still working through renewals and higher carrying costs.
Three things are worth watching as the series updates:
- The bankruptcy-to-proposal ratio: if bankruptcies keep growing faster than proposals, it suggests filers are arriving with weaker capacity to repay anything at all.
- The pace of the annual increase: a 2.2% rise is incremental; a sharp acceleration or a flattening would both be meaningful shifts in trend.
- The consumer-versus-business split: a rising business share would indicate the strain is broadening beyond households.
How the Federal Insolvency Numbers Are Compiled
The underlying data comes from the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy, the federal body that supervises the administration of insolvency filings in Canada and maintains the public record of them. Licensed insolvency trustees — the only professionals authorised to administer bankruptcies and consumer proposals — file into that system, which is why the counts are administrative records rather than survey estimates.
Because every filing is registered, the totals are comprehensive for the formal system. They cannot, however, capture informal debt settlements, credit counselling arrangements or households simply falling further behind without filing — all of which sit outside the register.
The next scheduled release of updated federal insolvency statistics was not specified in the material reviewed.
Figures in this article are aggregate national statistics reported by a licensed insolvency trustee firm from federal data. They describe a trend, not individual circumstances, and nothing here constitutes financial or legal advice.
Frequently Asked Questions
What period do the 140,669 filings cover?
The 12 months ending January 31, 2026 — a rolling annual window rather than a calendar or fiscal year.
What is the difference between a consumer proposal and a bankruptcy?
A consumer proposal is a formal offer to repay creditors a portion of what is owed over an agreed term, administered by a licensed insolvency trustee; bankruptcy is a separate legal process with different consequences for assets and credit. Individual eligibility and outcomes were not detailed in the data cited.
Are business insolvencies included in the 140,669 figure?
No. That number is consumer filings only. Consumer cases represented 96.7% of all insolvencies filed in Canada during the period, with business filings making up the remaining 3.3%.
Does a higher filing count mean Canadians are carrying more debt?
Not necessarily. The data counts the number of filings, not the value of the debt involved, so it measures how many people entered the formal insolvency system rather than how much they owed.
