The Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy (OSB) compiles annual insolvency rates for both consumers and businesses by province and economic region (ER), census metropolitan area (CMA) and sector as defined by the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS).
The consumer insolvency rate is defined as the number of consumer insolvencies per thousand residents aged 18 years or above. The business insolvency rate is defined as the number of business insolvencies per thousand businesses. Annual insolvency rates are available for consumers starting from 1987 and for businesses starting from 1998. Insolvency rates by NAICS sector are available starting from 1999. For your convenience, the information is also provided in Excel format (see downloadable version below).
Insolvency rates may be used to compare geographical areas of different population sizes as well as industrial sectors of different scales. It is important to note that variations in insolvency rates for a specific geographical area could result from a change in the number of insolvencies, a change in the size of the reference population (the number of consumers or businesses) or both.
Reports
- Annual Consumer Insolvency Rates by Province and Economic Region
- Annual Business Insolvency Rates by Province and Economic Region
- Annual Consumer Insolvency Rates by Census Metropolitan Area
- Annual Business Insolvency Rates by Census Metropolitan Area
- Annual Business Insolvency Rates by NAICS Economic Sectors
Downloadable version: Annual Insolvency Rates
Note: Use the tabs to view the different reports.
Definitions
- Consumer:
- An individual with more than 50% of total liabilities related to consumer goods and services.
- Business:
- Any commercial entity or organization other than an individual, or an individual who has incurred 50% or more of total liabilities as a result of operating a business.
- Bankruptcy:
- The state of a consumer or a business that has made an assignment in bankruptcy or against whom a bankruptcy order has been made.
- Proposal:
- An offer to creditors to settle debts under conditions other than the existing terms. A proposal is a formal agreement under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act.
- North American Industry Classification System (NAICS):
- System that classifies economic units that have similar production processes in the same industry. This is a supply-based or production-oriented economic concept.
- Economic Region (ER):
- Standard geographical units created for analysis of regional economic activity (Statistics Canada's geographical definitions of ERs).
- Census Metropolitan Area (CMA):
- Each census metropolitan area consists of one or more adjacent municipalities situated around a major urban core. To form a census metropolitan area, the urban core must have a population of at least 100 000 (Statistics Canada's geographical definitions of CMAs).