Licensed Insolvency Trustees (LITs) are highly qualified debt professionals who are federally regulated. Licensed through the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy , LITs adhere to a firm code of ethics and strict government regulations. As such, Licensed Insolvency Trustees are the only professionals who can file Consumer Proposals and bankruptcies on behalf of both individuals and corporations. The role of a LIT is to do a thorough review...

Insolvency is a formal term from bankruptcy law. If you are insolvent, it means your liabilities or debts exceed the value of your assets. You would also be considered insolvent if you are unable to pay your debts on time. This is an important consideration in financial analysis and credit matters.

A Consumer Proposal is for individuals that still have a source of income and are able to make payments to creditors, but need to change the arrangement of their payments. A Consumer Proposal can change the length of payment (up to a maximum term of 5 years) and the overall amount the debtor is required to pay. Whereas a Bankruptcy can be considered a clean start, as debts to unsecured creditors are typically forgiven. A Bankruptcy lowers your credit...

Depending on how quickly you take action and begin paying off your debt, debt consolidation should have little or no effect on your credit rating. However, late payments, failure to make minimum payments or being sent to collection can negatively affect your credit rating. The longer you wait to repay your outstanding debt, the more your credit rating will be negatively affected.

The total of all your debts must be paid in full plus 5% interest, usually within a period of three years, unless all creditors consent to an alternative arrangement and the Court approves it.

Using the Orderly Payments of Debt approach to repay debt will lower your credit rating. It is the same credit rating you would receive if you file a Consumer Proposal (R7). However, it will not be as low as the rating given to those who file for Bankruptcy (R9). Credit reporting agencies typically keep an Orderly Payments of Debt on your credit file for three years upon completion.

In order to qualify for debt consolidation, you must have a satisfactory crediting rating and sufficient income to sustain the loan. The financial institution issuing you the loan will conduct an assessment to determine if you meet their criteria.

Eligible debts that can be consolidated include: credit cards, consumer loans and public utilities. Ineligible debts include: mortgages, student loans, along with others.

As this is not a formal legal process, you choose the debts which you would like to pay down with the new consolidation loan.

The program is only available in Alberta, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. It is also available in Quebec, where it is referred to as the Voluntary Deposit Law (or formerly, Lacombe Law).