Bankruptcies on decline in Canada

Personal and corporate bankruptcies in Canada decreased on a monthly basis by 3.7 percent in October, the federal overseer in Ottawa announced Wednesday. A report by the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy said total insolvencies, which include bankruptcies and situations in which debtors negotiate payment compromises, were down 12.8 percent on an annual basis in October. "Business insolvencies for the 12-month period ending Oct.31, 2011, fell by 10.6 percent compared with the 12-month period ending Oct.31, 2010," the agency said. The bankruptcy trustee firm of Hoyes, Michalos & Associates Inc. in Kitchener, Ontario, said in a release the numbers for declining personal bankruptcies are encouraging but aren't likely to continue falling. "The unemployment rate in Canada dropped to a multiyear low of 7.1 percent in October, coinciding with the large decrease in personal bankruptcies [but] the unemployment rate has increased each month since then, and now stands at 7.5 percent," the company said. "Continued increases in unemployment will put further pressure on Canadians' finances, so it is very likely that the number of consumer insolvencies will begin to increase in 2012."