Consumer bankruptcies down dramatically on P.E.I. during pandemic

The number of Prince Edward Islanders who have declared personal bankruptcy so far in 2020is down more than 40 per centcompared to the same period in 2019.

The federal Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy released the statistics Wednesday.

The number of P.E.I. personal bankruptcies in January and February was largely unchanged from the year before, but it began to drop in March. From April to July, they were down more than 60 per cent from the year before.

Andr Bolduc, an executive board member of the Canadian Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Professionals, said many Canadians are currently being propped up by COVID-related government financial support.

"There is a large proportion of Canadians who are already technically insolvent," said Bolduc in a news release.

"We know that many of these individuals will need debt relief when the temporary support ends."

The association noted national figures show bankruptcies trending upward in June and July, and said it is hard to predict what the overall impact of the pandemic will be.

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