Free · takes about three minutes
Understand your debt-relief options before you talk to anyone
There are five common routes out of consumer debt in Canada, and they work very differently. Answer a few questions about your situation and we'll show you which ones apply to you and who can help — a Licensed Insolvency Trustee, a non-profit credit counsellor, or a licensed provider we work with.
No cost to you. No obligation. Your information is never shared until you say so.
Available in most provinces and territories.
What this site is, plainly
We are not the provider
We never negotiate with your creditors and we never touch your money. Every route ends with an independent provider or a public directory.
Free to you
You are never charged. Licensed settlement companies and consolidation lenders pay us when we introduce you to them.
Trustees and non-profits are not for sale
If your situation points to a consumer proposal or non-profit credit counselling, we send you to the public directory. Those introductions are never sold.
Nothing moves without your consent
You choose separately whether we may keep your answers, whether we may share them, and whether anyone may contact you.
How it works
011. Answer a few questions
Your province, roughly how much you owe, what kind of debt it is, and how your income and payments are holding up. Nothing about you is stored until you reach the consent step and choose to submit.
022. See which routes fit
We show you a primary route and the realistic alternatives, with a plain-language explanation of what each one actually involves — including the parts people find unpleasant.
033. Choose what happens next
If the route is a consumer proposal or non-profit credit counselling, we hand you the public directory and you contact them yourself. If it is debt settlement or a consolidation loan, you can consent to an introduction to a licensed provider.
044. You decide, with no pressure from us
We do not follow you through the process, and we are not paid on whether you sign anything. Ask any provider for their licence details and their fee schedule in writing before you commit.
The five routes
Each one is a different legal and financial mechanism with different consequences. None of them is right for everyone.
Consumer proposal
A formal offer to your creditors, filed by a Licensed Insolvency Trustee.
Debt settlement
A licensed company negotiates with creditors on your behalf, for a fee.
Debt consolidation loan
One new loan pays out several balances, leaving a single payment.
Non-profit credit counselling
A counsellor reviews your budget and may set up a debt management plan.
Handle it yourself
For smaller balances, a plan and a payoff order often beats paying anyone.
How the five routes compare
The same five options, side by side. Durations and credit-file effects come from the statute or from the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, never from us.
| How long it runs | Effect on your credit file | How the provider is paid | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Consumer proposal | Up to five years under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, and it can be finished sooner by paying the balance early. | Reported to both bureaus. The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada says it is removed three years after the included debts are paid off, or six years after signing, whichever comes first. | Trustee fees are set by federal regulation and are paid out of the payments you make into the proposal. |
| Debt settlement | Set by whatever agreement is reached, not by statute. There is no fixed term, and no creditor is obliged to agree at all. | Accounts usually keep ageing while a settlement is pursued. A late or unpaid credit card or loan can stay on file for up to six years, per the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada. | Fees are charged by the provider and are regulated in most provinces. You pay the provider, never us. |
| Debt consolidation loan | The term of the loan you sign. The balances move; the time you spend repaying them is whatever the lender sets. | A new loan and its payment history are reported like any other credit account, and a missed payment on it is reported for up to six years like any other. | Interest and any lender fees, disclosed by the lender before you sign. |
| Non-profit credit counselling | Agreed with the agency when the plan is set up, and it runs until the balances included in it are repaid in full. | A debt management plan is reported. The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada says it is removed two years after the debts included in it are paid off. | Counselling is typically free; a debt management plan may carry a modest administration fee. |
| Handle it yourself | However long you need. Nothing is filed, so no term is fixed and you can change the plan whenever your income does. | Nothing is reported for the plan itself, because there is no plan to report. Your existing accounts keep reporting as they already do. | Nothing. |
Consumer proposal
- How long it runs
- Up to five years under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, and it can be finished sooner by paying the balance early.
- Effect on your credit file
- Reported to both bureaus. The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada says it is removed three years after the included debts are paid off, or six years after signing, whichever comes first.
- How the provider is paid
- Trustee fees are set by federal regulation and are paid out of the payments you make into the proposal.
Debt settlement
- How long it runs
- Set by whatever agreement is reached, not by statute. There is no fixed term, and no creditor is obliged to agree at all.
- Effect on your credit file
- Accounts usually keep ageing while a settlement is pursued. A late or unpaid credit card or loan can stay on file for up to six years, per the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada.
- How the provider is paid
- Fees are charged by the provider and are regulated in most provinces. You pay the provider, never us.
Debt consolidation loan
- How long it runs
- The term of the loan you sign. The balances move; the time you spend repaying them is whatever the lender sets.
- Effect on your credit file
- A new loan and its payment history are reported like any other credit account, and a missed payment on it is reported for up to six years like any other.
- How the provider is paid
- Interest and any lender fees, disclosed by the lender before you sign.
Non-profit credit counselling
- How long it runs
- Agreed with the agency when the plan is set up, and it runs until the balances included in it are repaid in full.
- Effect on your credit file
- A debt management plan is reported. The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada says it is removed two years after the debts included in it are paid off.
- How the provider is paid
- Counselling is typically free; a debt management plan may carry a modest administration fee.
Handle it yourself
- How long it runs
- However long you need. Nothing is filed, so no term is fixed and you can change the plan whenever your income does.
- Effect on your credit file
- Nothing is reported for the plan itself, because there is no plan to report. Your existing accounts keep reporting as they already do.
- How the provider is paid
- Nothing.
Debt relief by province and territory
Consumer proposals and bankruptcy are federal and work the same way everywhere. Who is licensed to offer settlement and consolidation, and how long a creditor has to sue, are provincial. Pick your province to see both.
Common questions
- Does using this site cost me anything?
- No. You are never charged. Licensed debt-settlement companies and consolidation lenders pay us when we introduce you to them. Introductions to Licensed Insolvency Trustees and non-profit credit counsellors are free routing to public directories and are never sold.
- Will any of this affect my credit?
- Most of these routes are reported to the credit bureaus in some form, and the effect differs by route and by your existing file. Ask the provider you speak with to explain exactly what will be reported and for how long, before you agree to anything.
- Are you a government service?
- No. Debt Relief Path is a private business and has no affiliation with, or endorsement from, any government body. We do link to the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy's public trustee directory, which is a government resource.
- Do you negotiate with my creditors?
- No, and we are not permitted to. We do not contact your creditors, we do not receive or forward your money, and we do not act for you in any arrangement. Those functions belong to licensed providers.