More Canadians, real estate firms are struggling financially

There were more Canadians becoming insolvent in July compared to 12 months earlier.

Data from the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy Canada shows a 6.5% increase in consumer insolvencies as consumer proposals jumped 14.3% while bankruptcies decreased 2.8%.

There were notable increases in Quebec (9.4% month-over-month and 8.4% year-over-year), Ontario (7.7% m-o-m, 22.9% y-o-y), and BC (8.6% m-o-m, 35.5% y-o-y).

Business insolvencies were also up, by 7.2% with those in real estate, and rental and leasing, among those showing notable increases along with the ‘other services’ category.

There were 16 businesses becoming insolvent in the real estate, and rental and leasing, categories in July. This was up from 10 in June and 7 in July 2018. Most (10) of the July 2019 insolvencies were bankruptcies.

Nova Scotia and Yukon posted the largest decreases in insolvencies compared with June 2019; 12.1% and 50% respectively, although Nova Scotia was up more than 9% compared to July 2019.

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