Insolvency up 10% in Canada in June 2015

Insolvenciesby both consumers and businesses were up 10 per cent in June, compared with the year earlier month, according to a report from Statistics Canada.

The monthly total was 10,463 consumers and 357 businesses declaring bankruptcy or accepting a proposal to rearrange their debt.

There were 119,898 bankruptcies and proposals filed by consumers and another 4,215 bankruptcies or proposals filed by businesses in the 12 months to June 30. That's a 1.7 per cent increase for the full year when compared with 2013-14.

Total consumer bankruptcies increased by 4.2 per cent over the year, with the numbers spiking in oil-producing provinces, including Alberta, Saskatchewan and Newfoundland and Labrador.

Low oil prices are believed to have caught many consumers with high debt loads and shrinking job prospects.

Ontario and Quebec, which have the biggest populations, continue to have the greatest number of consumers needing to rearrange their financial affairs.

There were 3,585 in trouble in Quebec in June, an almost 14 per cent increase from the same month last year, and 3,470 in Ontario, an increase of threeper cent.