Overuse of credit cards could be contributing to rise in bankruptcies in Quebec

More than 34,000 Quebec households filed for insolvency between June 2024 and May 2025. That’s an increase of almost 5% over the previous year. For Benjamin Croituru, that’s cause for concern. “Everybody makes mistakes financially,” says Croitoru, the academic director of McGill Personal Finance Essentials, a free online financial course. “People face a system that is kind of rigged against them. There’s a lot of marketing that encourages people to spend too much money, to borrow money the wrong way. A lot of people overuse credit cards, of course, because they’re so convenient, but the cost of borrowing money with your credit card is staggering.” Bad financial habits aren’t necessarily the fault of an individual, he adds. The system really encourages people to behave in a way that could damage their own finances.