Ontario Consumer Insolvency Trends
By Ken Rowan, with data to April 2023
Data source: see notes following
ON
Monthly Filings
A five-year chart of Ontario monthly consumer insolvency filings.
Consumer Proposals
Annual File Growth
To measure growth we compare total filings in the 12 months ended April 2023 with those in the 12 months ended April 2022.
Greater Toronto Area
Mean and Current Monthly Filings
Regions / Municipal Areas
Mean and Current Monthly Filings
We consider census metropolitan areas and regions and compare current volumes with the 10-year historical mean. Showing the current month as a percentage of the mean reveals the degree to which current filings exceed the mean.
Cities
Most Active This Month
We rank cities by the number of consumer insolvencies filed in the most recent month.
Highest Annual Growth Rates
We filter out cities having less than 120 filings per year and report the 25 having the highest growth.
| City | 12.mos.to.Apr2023 | 12.mos.to.Apr2022 | Change | Percent Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belleville | 258 | 171 | 87 | 50.9% |
| Niagara Falls | 366 | 249 | 117 | 47.0% |
| Don Mills | 136 | 93 | 43 | 46.2% |
| Guelph | 412 | 282 | 130 | 46.1% |
| Peterborough | 305 | 213 | 92 | 43.2% |
| Cornwall | 255 | 179 | 76 | 42.5% |
| Trenton | 145 | 102 | 43 | 42.2% |
| Barrie | 689 | 489 | 200 | 40.9% |
| Bowmanville | 135 | 96 | 39 | 40.6% |
| Milton | 246 | 176 | 70 | 39.8% |
| Welland | 264 | 189 | 75 | 39.7% |
| St. Thomas | 207 | 149 | 58 | 38.9% |
| Nepean | 394 | 285 | 109 | 38.2% |
| Kanata | 180 | 134 | 46 | 34.3% |
| Oakville | 282 | 214 | 68 | 31.8% |
| Oshawa | 732 | 556 | 176 | 31.7% |
| St. Catharines | 537 | 409 | 128 | 31.3% |
| Toronto | 1866 | 1421 | 445 | 31.3% |
| Downsview | 249 | 191 | 58 | 30.4% |
| Hamilton | 1514 | 1161 | 353 | 30.4% |
| Orleans | 159 | 122 | 37 | 30.3% |
| Cambridge | 461 | 355 | 106 | 29.9% |
| North York | 1470 | 1133 | 337 | 29.7% |
| Mississauga | 1784 | 1383 | 401 | 29.0% |
| Willowdale | 385 | 299 | 86 | 28.8% |
Lowest Annual Growth Rates
We report the 10 cities with the lowest annual growth rate.
| City | 12.mos.to.Apr2023 | 12.mos.to.Apr2022 | Change | Percent Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thornhill | 162 | 169 | -7 | -4.1% |
| Maple | 100 | 103 | -3 | -2.9% |
| Orangeville | 147 | 133 | 14 | 10.5% |
| Newmarket | 217 | 194 | 23 | 11.9% |
| East York | 268 | 234 | 34 | 14.5% |
| Sarnia | 279 | 243 | 36 | 14.8% |
| Timmins | 173 | 149 | 24 | 16.1% |
| York | 512 | 438 | 74 | 16.9% |
| London | 1393 | 1185 | 208 | 17.6% |
| Woodbridge | 194 | 164 | 30 | 18.3% |
10-Year Monthly Highs and Lows
We determined the maximum and minimum monthly filings since 2013 and compared these to the current monthly filings to see whether the city was experiencing an historic high or low number of filings.
Peaks
Lows - none
Forward Sortation Areas
Most Active This Month
The 30 most active FSAs in the current month and their mean monthly filings since 2013.
| FSA | FSA.Place.Name | City | April2023 | Mean | April2023.over.Mean |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| L4N | Barrie South | Barrie | 41 | 35.6 | 115.3% |
| K0K | Quinte Shores | Rural Area | 34 | 27.2 | 125.0% |
| P1B | North Bay Central | North Bay | 25 | 14.5 | 172.6% |
| L5A | Mississauga (Mississauga Valleys / East Cooksville) | Mississauga | 24 | 16.5 | 145.6% |
| M9V | Etobicoke (South Steeles / Silverstone / Humbergate / Jamestown / Mount Olive … ) | Etobicoke | 23 | 18.1 | 127.3% |
| L1J | Oshawa Southwest | Oshawa | 22 | 18.5 | 118.8% |
| M1B | Scarborough (Malvern / Rouge River) | Scarborough | 22 | 20.8 | 105.6% |
| L1H | Oshawa Southeast | Oshawa | 20 | 12.5 | 160.4% |
| M2J | North York (Fairview / Henry Farm / Oriole) | North York | 20 | 14.0 | 142.5% |
| M3N | North York (Jane and Finch) | North York | 20 | 18.6 | 107.8% |
| L4C | Richmond Hill Southwest | Richmond Hill | 19 | 14.1 | 135.0% |
| L5N | Mississauga (Lisgar / Meadowvale) | Mississauga | 19 | 15.6 | 121.8% |
| M9C | Etobicoke (Eringate / Bloordale Gardens / Old Burnhamthorpe / Markland Woods) | Etobicoke | 19 | 8.4 | 225.9% |
| M9W | Etobicoke Northwest (Clairville / Humberwood / Woodbine Downs / West Humber…) | Etobicoke | 19 | 12.5 | 152.1% |
| K0L | Peterborough County and North Hastings County (Lakefield) | Rural Area | 18 | 15.4 | 116.7% |
| L1V | Pickering Southwest | Pickering | 18 | 10.6 | 170.5% |
| L4M | Barrie North | Barrie | 18 | 17.6 | 102.2% |
| L9T | Milton | Milton | 18 | 17.6 | 102.4% |
| P0M | Algoma | Rural Area | 18 | 20.3 | 88.7% |
| K7K | Kingston (SW Pittsburgh Township) | Kingston, ON | 17 | 10.3 | 165.1% |
| K7M | Kingston (Reddendale / Cataraqui / Collins Bay) | Kingston, ON | 17 | 13.6 | 125.0% |
| L3V | Orillia | Orillia | 17 | 16.9 | 100.4% |
| L5B | Mississauga (West Cooksville / Fairview / City Centre / East Creditview) | Mississauga | 17 | 15.7 | 108.5% |
| M1K | Scarborough (Kennedy Park / Ionview / East Birchmount Park) | Scarborough | 17 | 16.0 | 106.1% |
| M1P | Scarborough (Dorset Park / Wexford Heights / Scarborough Town Centre) | Scarborough | 17 | 12.9 | 131.9% |
| N2L | Waterloo South | Waterloo | 17 | 5.9 | 286.4% |
| N5V | London (YXU / North and East Argyle / East Huron Heights) | London | 17 | 12.7 | 133.8% |
| L6S | Brampton North Central | Brampton | 16 | 14.5 | 110.6% |
| L6T | Brampton East | Brampton | 16 | 16.0 | 99.8% |
| M1E | Scarborough (Guildwood / Morningside / Ellesmere) | Scarborough | 16 | 13.9 | 115.3% |
Highest Annual Growth Rates
We average over 10 years the number of monthly files in FSAs and we filter out those having less than 72 files annually. We compare the number of files in the 12-month period ended April 2023 to those in the 12-month period ended April 2022 to calculate growth.
| FSA | FSA_Place_Name | City | 12.mos.to.Apr2023 | 12.mos.to.Apr2022 | Change | Percent Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P7A | Thunder Bay Northeast | Thunder Bay | 108 | 56 | 52 | 92.9% |
| M6H | West Toronto (Dufferin / Dovercourt Village) | Toronto | 132 | 71 | 61 | 85.9% |
| L6Z | Brampton West Central | Brampton | 85 | 48 | 37 | 77.1% |
| N6K | London (Riverbend / Woodhull / North Sharon Creek / Byron / West Westmount) | London | 106 | 60 | 46 | 76.7% |
| L8W | Hamilton (West Albion Falls / Hannon / Rymal / Trenholme / Quinndale…) | Hamilton | 91 | 52 | 39 | 75.0% |
| M1H | Scarborough (Cedarbrae) | Scarborough | 77 | 44 | 33 | 75.0% |
| K1C | Gloucester (West Orleans) | Gloucester | 80 | 46 | 34 | 73.9% |
| L1K | Oshawa East | Oshawa | 104 | 61 | 43 | 70.5% |
| K2J | Nepean (Barrhaven) | Nepean | 150 | 89 | 61 | 68.5% |
| K8N | Belleville East | Belleville | 117 | 71 | 46 | 64.8% |
| N1H | Guelph Northwest | Guelph | 165 | 101 | 64 | 63.4% |
| N5Z | London (Glen Cairn) | London | 134 | 82 | 52 | 63.4% |
| K9H | Peterborough North | Peterborough | 106 | 65 | 41 | 63.1% |
| L8V | Hamilton (Raleigh / Macassa / Lawfield / Thorner / Burkholme / Eastmount) | Hamilton | 103 | 64 | 39 | 60.9% |
| L5M | Mississauga (Churchill Meadows / Central Erin Mills / South Streetsville) | Mississauga | 179 | 112 | 67 | 59.8% |
| P3A | Greater Sudbury (New Sudbury) | Greater Sudbury | 105 | 66 | 39 | 59.1% |
| L5V | Mississauga (East Credit) | Mississauga | 92 | 58 | 34 | 58.6% |
| M9C | Etobicoke (Eringate / Bloordale Gardens / Old Burnhamthorpe / Markland Woods) | Etobicoke | 111 | 70 | 41 | 58.6% |
| L1T | Ajax Northwest | Ajax | 117 | 74 | 43 | 58.1% |
| M4J | East Toronto (The Danforth East) | Toronto | 93 | 59 | 34 | 57.6% |
| N5P | St. Thomas North | St. Thomas | 99 | 63 | 36 | 57.1% |
| L3B | Welland East | Welland | 142 | 91 | 51 | 56.0% |
| L5R | Mississauga (West Hurontario / SW Gateway) | Mississauga | 96 | 62 | 34 | 54.8% |
| N8Y | Windsor East (East Walkerville) | Windsor ON | 137 | 89 | 48 | 53.9% |
| L8H | Hamilton (West Kentley / McQuesten / Parkview / Hamilton Beach…) | Hamilton | 123 | 80 | 43 | 53.8% |
Lowest Annual Growth Rates
And we show the bottom 15.
| FSA | FSA_Place_Name | City | 12.mos.to.Apr2023 | 12.mos.to.Apr2022 | Change | Percent Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| L5J | Mississauga (Clarkson / Southdown) | Mississauga | 63 | 74 | -11 | -14.9% |
| M9A | Etobicoke (Islington Avenue) | Etobicoke | 104 | 117 | -13 | -11.1% |
| K9V | Lindsay | Lindsay | 91 | 101 | -10 | -9.9% |
| N6C | London South (East Highland / North White Oaks / North Westminster) | London | 107 | 118 | -11 | -9.3% |
| L5L | Mississauga (Erin Mills / Western Business Park) | Mississauga | 95 | 104 | -9 | -8.7% |
| K6A | Hawkesbury | Hawkesbury | 64 | 69 | -5 | -7.2% |
| L4J | Thornhill West | Thornhill | 77 | 81 | -4 | -4.9% |
| P0H | Nipissing North (Callander) | Rural Area | 77 | 81 | -4 | -4.9% |
| N5Y | London (West Huron Heights / Carling) | London | 152 | 159 | -7 | -4.4% |
| L3T | Thornhill East | Thornhill | 85 | 88 | -3 | -3.4% |
| L6A | Maple | Maple | 100 | 103 | -3 | -2.9% |
| L4X | Mississauga (East Applewood / East Dixie / NE Lakeview) | Mississauga | 77 | 79 | -2 | -2.5% |
| K8A | Pembroke Central and northern subdivisions | Pembroke | 84 | 86 | -2 | -2.3% |
| L4L | Woodbridge South | Woodbridge | 96 | 98 | -2 | -2.0% |
| M4H | East York (Thorncliffe Park) | East York | 53 | 54 | -1 | -1.9% |
Notes and Data Sources
FSA and Forward Sortation Area are protected terms for the benefit of Canada Post Corporation.
Data source: The Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy (“OSB”), Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, data sets 2013 to April 2023, https://open.canada.ca/
We report on only consumer bankruptcies and consumer proposals as defined by the OSB. For definitions, see https://open.canada.ca/
Ken Rowan is a retired Licensed Insolvency Trustee and a retired CA, CPA.
Questions or Comments? Email debtsgo.ca