Debt got you down?

The CBA partnered with Credit Counselling Canada, an association of accredited non-profit credit counselling agencies, to offer the Debt and Money Quiz. 

The online tool helps Canadians assess their financial health and provides recommendations to help those who are struggling financially. 

Take a short “Yes” or “No” quiz to find out if you need support managing money and debt. See how you compare with other quiz respondents.



Quarterly Consumer Credit Trends: Recent trends in debt settlement and credit counseling

This report used a longitudinal, nationally-representative sample of approximately five million de-identified credit records maintained by one of the three nationwide consumer reporting agencies. Trends in debt settlement and credit counseling during the Great Recession and in recent years are presented. This report shows that nearly one in thirteen consumers with a credit record had at least one account settled through a creditor or had account payments managed by a credit counseling agency from 2007 through 2019. Since 2016, the number of debt settlements has increased steadily, while credit counseling numbers are relatively unchanged.



Debt management solutions

This is a one-hour webinar on debt management solutions in Canada for situations where someone's debt is significant enough that specialized solutions are needed. The speakers explain what steps are likely to be involved in the credit counselling process in setting up a debt management plan, or working with a licensed insolvency trustee to file a consumer proposal or bankruptcy.

The speakers in this webinar are:

Click 'Get it' below to access the video link, and scroll down to access handouts, slides, and video timestamps for this webinar.



Read the presentation slides for this webinar.

Access the handouts for this webinar:
How we help people – An overview (Webinar handout) – Credit Counselling Society
Our services (Webinar handout) – Credit Counselling Society
Debt solutions 101 (Webinar handout)  – msi Spergel Inc

Time-stamps for the video-recording:
4:13 – Agenda and introductions
7:00 – Audience polls
12:31 – Debt in Canada (Speaker: Glenna Harris)
15:20 – Credit Counselling Society on debt management plans (Speaker: Anne Arbour)
34:05 – Spergel Msi on Consumer Proposals and Bankruptcy plans (Speaker: Gillian Goldblatt)
56:00 – Q&A

The Impact of Credit Counseling on Consumer Outcomes: Evidence from a National Demonstration Program


This study addresses these gaps in the literature through an evaluation of a nationwide credit counselling program called Sharpen Your Financial Focus, an initiative launched by the National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC) in September of 2013.  The Sharpen initiative builds upon and enhances the standard counseling model implemented by NFCC affiliate agencies. As of March 2015, more than 40,000 consumers have received credit counseling services under the Sharpen initiative. This analysis uses data on 6,094 consumers enrolling during the first quarter of the initiative through 13 different affiliate agencies. In partnership with Experian, a matched comparison group is generated through Coarsened Exact Matching (CEM).





This study addresses these gaps in the literature through an evaluation of a nationwide credit counselling program called Sharpen Your Financial Focus, an initiative launched by the National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC) in September of 2013.  The Sharpen initiative builds upon and enhances the standard counseling model implemented by NFCC affiliate agencies. As of March 2015, more than 40,000 consumers have received credit counseling services under the Sharpen initiative. This analysis uses data on 6,094 consumers enrolling during the first quarter of the initiative through 13 different affiliate agencies. In partnership with Experian, a matched comparison group is generated through Coarsened Exact Matching (CEM).




Managing Debt: Getting Help from a Credit Counselling Agency

The Compass Guide to Small-Dollar Credit