Bankruptcy filings by businesses spiked in Saskatchewan in September from a year earlier, according to statistics released Monday.
The federal Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy says the number of bankruptcies filed by businesses in the province more than tripled compared to September 2014. Thirteen bankruptcies were filed by Saskatchewan businesses in September, up from four in the same period last year.
The increase is largely driven by falling oil prices, said Ian Schofield, a senior vice-president with accounting firm MNP in Regina.
“There’s no question we are beginning to see fallout from the drop in oil prices,” Schofield said. “We’re seeing more activity through Estevan and Weyburn in an insolvency context.”
Consumer bankruptcy filings fell 3.8 per cent in Saskatchewan on a year-over-year basis to 100, while the number of proposals filed by consumers rose 27.3 per cent to 98.
Schofield said consumer insolvencies haven’t spiked in Saskatchewan yet because many people put off filing.
“People go on EI or find some other job or sometimes you don’t deal with this until you get the next job, so there’s always a considerable lag,” he said. “I don’t think we’ve actually seen the spike because of that.”
With oil prices expected to remain low next year, Schofield said he believes things will get worse before they get better in Saskatchewan. On Monday, the provincial government revealed a projected deficit of $262 million.
