Two-thirds of Sask. residents close to insolvency

Around two-thirds of Saskatchewan and Manitoba residents are flirting with insolvency or are already unable to pay all of their monthly bills, a new semiannual survey says.

MNP Ltd.’s Consumer Debt Sentiment Survey, published Wednesday, found that 64 per cent of people living in the two provinces were less than $200 per month away from failing to meet their debts, up 17 percentage points from February 2016.

Of those, more than onethird — 34 per cent — said they didn’t make enough money to cover their monthly bills, an increase of 17 percentage points over the past seven months and the largest jump in the country, the survey found.

“That’s a huge portion of people who are tremendously vulnerable to any kind of economic shock like an emergency, a divorce, a health issue or an increase in interest rates,” Naida Kornuta of MNP Debt said in a statement.

The increases recorded in Saskatchewan and Manitoba are among the largest in the country, MNP said in a news release. On a national basis, the figure rose five percentage points to 56 per cent over the same period.

Kornuta said the survey’s findings are a “clear indication” that the effects of the oil shock are spreading beyond the energy sector.

“Laid-off oil workers and their families aren’t the only ones hurting now,” said Kornuta, who is based in Saskatoon. “The slowdown effects have trickled-down to everyone from retailers to restaurants and virtually every business.”

Saskatchewan and Manitoba residents are also more concerned about debt than people in any other region except Atlantic Canada. The survey found 54 per cent of people in the two provinces are worried, up 14 per cent over the past seven months.

While 59 per cent of people in the two provinces — the largest proportion in Canada — say they regret taking on so much debt, “over-spending remains a reality,” MNP said in the release.

“Many are spending themselves into devastation, relying on cheap credit to subsidize their income and fund their lifestyles during the downturn,” Kornuta said.

MNP Ltd. is a division of MNP LLP, which was formerly known as Meyers Norris Penny. The survey, conducted by Ipsos on Sept. 6 and 12, used a sample of 1,502 Canadians and is accurate to within 2.9 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

Many are spending themselves into devastation, relying on cheap credit to subsidize their income ...