Frequently asked questions

No. In Canada only a Licensed Insolvency Trustee is legally authorised to file a consumer proposal or a bankruptcy, and Wizdom Financial is not an LIT. What we do is assess your options, build the plan around your real budget, prepare your documents, connect you with a reputable trustee, and stay with you through the process and after discharge.

A consumer proposal, bankruptcy, and an Orderly Payment of Debts. A proposal repays part of what you owe. Bankruptcy eliminates most unsecured debt. An OPD repays everything in full at a fixed low interest rate, and exists in four provinces only.

Yes. Once a proposal or bankruptcy is filed, a legal stay of proceedings takes effect and most collection calls, lawsuits and wage garnishments must stop. An OPD consolidation order has a similar protective effect once granted.

Unsecured debts such as credit cards, lines of credit, personal loans, bank loans, payday loans and amounts owed to the Canada Revenue Agency can generally be addressed. Secured debts like mortgages and car loans are not included, and you keep paying those to keep the asset.

No. There are no scare tactics and no lectures here. Most people arrive after a job loss, an illness, a separation or simply years of compounding interest. Our job is to give you a plan, not an opinion about your past.

Settlements commonly land between 30% and 70% of what you owe, depending on your circumstances and what your creditors will accept. Your creditors vote on the proposal, so nobody can promise a figure in advance. We model several scenarios with you before anything is filed.

No. Proposal payments are fixed for the life of the proposal. This is one of the clearest differences from bankruptcy, where surplus-income rules can increase what you pay.

Generally yes, including home equity and your vehicle, as long as you stay current on those secured loans.

Missing too many payments can annul the proposal, at which point creditors may resume collections and bankruptcy could become the remaining option. That is why we spend real time getting the payment amount right, and why we keep supporting you through the term.

For a first-time bankruptcy with no surplus income, discharge can occur in as little as about nine months. With surplus income, or on a second filing, it takes longer.

It is the amount by which your income exceeds federal thresholds, adjusted for household size. Above the threshold you make additional payments during the bankruptcy and the process runs longer.

Not all of them. Provincial exemption rules protect certain assets, commonly basic household goods, tools of the trade and a portion of vehicle or home equity. Non-exempt assets may be sold for creditors. We map out what is likely exempt in your province before anything is filed.

Alberta, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. Other provinces may offer similar but not identical programs through local courts or credit-counselling agencies.

No. It is a full-repayment program. What changes is the interest rate, fixed at a relatively low level, often around 5%, and the fact that everything becomes one manageable monthly payment.

Generally no. You usually cannot take on new credit while in an OPD, and it appears on your credit report for a period after completion.

$1,500 upfront, which can be paid in monthly instalments or by credit card, plus a $20 monthly filing fee that begins once signatures are made and continues until the debt is paid off. The first consultation is free.

The first is a free 30-minute Zoom call to review your situation and check qualification. The second runs about an hour and a half, in person at the Combined Insurance location, with the Licensed Insolvency Trustee attending by Zoom to review documents and take signatures.

Once signatures are made the trustee approaches your creditors, and they have 45 days to accept or decline.

Monday to Friday, 8:00am to 8:30pm, and Saturdays by appointment.