Your debt management questions answered

Canada is facing a debt crisis unlike any in decades, with insolvencies reaching their highest levels since 2009 and household debt hitting $2.6 trillion. Yet, as host Saroja Coelho and guests Bruce Sellery and Wesley Cowan reveal, the real story isn’t one of moral failure—but of systemic strain. The burden isn’t from extravagance or poor choices, but from the relentless pressure of rising costs: food, rent, mortgage renewals, and inflation that outpaces income. What’s more, the shame and silence around debt keep people trapped. But the episode reframes bankruptcy not as a failure, but as a courageous, legal step toward rebuilding. The guests emphasize that help exists—nonprofit credit counseling, consumer proposals, reverse mortgages, and free consultations with licensed insolvency trustees—and that reaching out is the first act of agency. They also expose the hidden gender and generational dynamics: men often isolate themselves, while seniors struggle with fixed incomes, and young adults are targeted by aggressive credit marketing. The solution isn’t just personal responsibility—it’s systemic change, like mandatory referrals from banks to counselors, so people don’t have to suffer in silence until they’re at breaking point.