Last year, an average of 78 people filed for bankruptcy every day in Quebec. The situation is particularly worrying in the north of Lanaudière, which has the largest number of insolvency files in the country in a given area, according to the data collected by our investigative office.
“[Dans] the entire north of Lanaudière, including the north of Saint-Jérôme, [il y a beaucoup de gens] who use social services and have no assets and will declare bankruptcy,” comments trustee Mathieu Roy of the M. Roy & Associés office.
In absolute terms, a geographical area that includes part of the Lanaudière and Mauricie regions has the most insolvency proceedings in Canada.
Particularly affected is the sector with the first letters of the postal code J0K, in which the towns of Sainte-Julienne, Saint-Calixte and Rawdon in Lanaudière are located.
Infographics Le Journal de Montréal
The most affected regions
Bankruptcy files since January 2023
| NUMBER OF FILES | POSTAL CODE | SECTOR |
|---|---|---|
| 416 | J0K | Lanaudière (without Joliette) |
| 198 | G0A | Portneuf, Côte-de-Beaupré, Charlevoix-Ouest (excluding major cities) |
| 198 | J0L | South coast of Montreal (excluding major cities) |
| 189 | J6E | Joliette |
| 171 | G0R | Bellechasse-L’Islet |
| 164 | G0S | Lotbinière-L’Érable (excluding large cities) |
| 160 | J2B | South Drummondville |
| 148 | J3Y | St-Hubert |
| 145 | J7Z | St-Jérôme is |
| 144 | J3B | St-Jean-sur-Richelieu (St-Jean sector) |
Source: Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy
NUMBER OF INSOLVENCY INVESTMENTS OPENED
In Quebec
24,443
As of: August 31, 2022
Postal region: J0K
416Highest in absolute numbers in Canada
since January 2023
Quebec overrepresented
Although Quebec is already considered a leader in bankruptcy in Canada, it remains overrepresented in bankruptcy filings in the country since the pandemic.
“Historical, […] We are no longer resorting to bankruptcy [au Québec] »
– Mathieu Roy, Trustee M. Roy & Associés
Photo Photo from the M.Roy & Associés website
According to the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy, at the end of August 2023, the number of consumer bankruptcy proceedings in Quebec had increased by 17.5% compared to the previous year.
Downward trend
Nevertheless, there is a tendency for the trend to improve. In 2019, Quebec had a bankruptcy rate of 6.3, which is the number of bankruptcies or applications to creditors per 1,000 residents. The Canadian average at the time was 4.6. In 2021, Quebec’s bankruptcy rate fell to 3.3, compared to 2.9 in Canada.
“It still changed the profile. The rest of Canada, particularly in the West, has seen a faster increase in bankruptcy proceedings than in Quebec. They may have suffered more recently from the economy,” comments Jonathan Roy, administrative director at Pierre Roy et Associés.
The latter points out that personal income has historically been lower in Quebec than in Ontario, which he says may partly explain why there have been more bankruptcies here.
“We may have a little less financial literacy in Quebec,” he adds.
The fact that houses are more expensive in Ontario and British Columbia also explains, he believes, why debt ratios are higher in those provinces but, paradoxically, there are fewer bankruptcy records.
Mortgage debt can be considered “good debt” because, unlike credit card debt, for example, it is secured by an asset.
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