Prime Minister Mark Carney says Canada has “never been more affordable,” but the latest insolvency numbers paint a very different picture.

New data from the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy shows 13,254 Canadians and businesses filed for insolvency in June, an increase of 11.5% from June 2025 and more than double the number recorded in June 2020.

It was the second-highest June for insolvencies on record, surpassed only by June 2009 during the global financial crisis.

The longer-term numbers are equally troubling. Canada recorded 150,505 insolvencies during the 12 months ending in June 2026, up 5.3% from the previous year and just 670 filings below the comparable record set in 2010.

Insolvencies are a lagging economic indicator, so they don't prove Canada's economy is currently shrinking. But they do demonstrate the financial pressure households and businesses have been experiencing after years of rising living costs, high borrowing costs and mounting debt.

 

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Against that national backdrop, Alberta continues to stand out as an economic and job-creation engine.

Statistics Canada's July Labour Force Survey showed Alberta had added approximately 91,000 jobs compared with a year earlier, a 3.5% increase, the strongest proportional employment growth among the provinces. Alberta's unemployment rate also fell to 6.8% from 7.6% a year earlier.

Major investment continues to flow into the province as well. Meta has announced a roughly $13-billion data centre development in Sturgeon County, while Alberta has also seen major proposed investments in natural gas infrastructure, data centres and petrochemical development.

None of that means Albertans are immune from Canada's affordability and debt problems. They aren't. But they can be insulated from it by voting Option 2 on October 19.