How many Canadians file for insolvency each year? A 13-year look at the numbers

In 2025, Canadians and Canadian businesses made 145,297 insolvency filings under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, according to the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy (OSB). That is 1.3% more than in 2024, and it is the largest yearly total in the OSB’s 2013–2025 series. If you are wondering how many Canadians file for insolvency each year, the short answer is well over 100,000. The more useful question is where that number sits in the longer record.

How many Canadians file for insolvency each year?

The OSB counts every bankruptcy and proposal filed by a consumer or a business. Here are its totals for selected years, with year-over-year changes:¹

Source: Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy.

For most of the 2010s the total stayed in a band between roughly 122,000 and 130,000. The pandemic broke that pattern. Filings fell by nearly 30% in 2020 and dropped again in 2021, a period when pandemic-era government support and payment deferrals were in place. The OSB figures show the dip, but they do not by themselves explain it.

The rebound, and what has changed since

From 2022 the numbers climbed back quickly, passing the 2019 level in 2024. Consumers account for almost all of the volume: 140,457 consumer filings in 2025, up from 137,295 in 2024, and 4,840 business filings, down from 6,188.¹

CAIRP, the national association of insolvency professionals, notes that the 2025 consumer total was the second-highest since the OSB began tracking in 1987, and the highest in 16 years, which implies that only 2009 was higher.² The OSB reports that the unemployment rate rose from 6.4% to 6.8% in 2025 and that the Bank of Canada lowered its overnight rate from 3.00% to 2.25% during the year.¹

One reading of the data is that the pressure has built slowly, through years of higher prices and higher borrowing costs, rather than through a single shock. The slowdown to 1.3% growth and a filing rate that has held at about 4.1 per 1,000 consumers for three years may mean that the sharp adjustment is behind us. It does not mean the level is low. For the most recent monthly picture, see our look at August’s OSB numbers, and for who files, see the OSB’s debtor profile.

Proposals still outnumber bankruptcies

Consumer proposals made up 78.4% of consumer filings in 2025, a little lower than the 78.8% of 2024.¹ A consumer proposal is a legally binding offer, made through a Licensed Insolvency Trustee, to pay creditors part of what is owed or to extend the time to pay, over a term of no more than five years.³ Many people prefer it because they can generally keep their assets as long as secured payments are made.

It has trade-offs. You need income steady enough to make every payment, and the OSB notes that a proposal generally affects your credit score and stays on your credit report for the term plus a few years, depending on the province.³ Bankruptcy works differently: a Licensed Insolvency Trustee sells assets that are not exempt under provincial and federal law, and some people must make surplus income payments.⁴ To see how that process compares, here is how bankruptcy works in Canada.

What this means for you

A yearly total is a national figure. It tells you that many households have used these options, and that the process is well established. It does not tell you what is right for your finances.

• Compare options with a Licensed Insolvency Trustee. CAIRP says initial consultations are generally free.² A trustee can explain the consequences of each route for your income, assets and credit.
• Look at the whole picture. Budgeting changes, a debt management plan, consolidation, a proposal and bankruptcy each work for different circumstances.
• Earlier tends to leave more choices. That is a general pattern, not a promise about any one outcome.