As I wrote previously, the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC) was established in 2001 by Financial Consumer Agency of Canada Act to: “ensure that financial institutions, external complaints bodies and payment card network operators are supervised by an agency of the Government of Canada so as to contribute to the protection of consumers of...Continue reading

As a debt restructuring specialist, I spend all my days working with and for Canadian consumer debtors facing insolvency. When you approach insolvency, you are basically seeking to negotiate with your creditors to relieve or eliminate your debt, and our job is to help our clients understand this process and make the best decisions possible...Continue reading

Credit is a fact of life There is an old expression that there are only two things you can be certain of in this life: Death and taxes. To that, I am going to add “credit”. In today’s world, credit makes the world go ‘round. Of course, most Canadians access credit to make a big...Continue reading

Canadians not as confident about debt loads as Bank of Canada. October 24, 2018: Today, Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz raised the benchmark interest rate a quarter-point to 1.75 per cent. In this announcement, Poloz was clear that this measure was taken to achieve a relatively consistent inflation target of between 2.5% and 3.5%....Continue reading

Inflation squeezes those in debt even harder. September 5, 2018: Today, the Governor Stephen Poloz, released the Bank of Canada’s most recent decision on national interest rates. As expected, he indicated there would not be a rate increase at this time, even while inflation rates continue to hover at the outer edges of their comfort...Continue reading

At some time in our lives, most of us will need to borrow money. Whether to pursue higher education, purchase a home or a car, or start a business, there are times where you simply won’t have enough cash flow to fund a purchase without taking on debt.  When a loan helps you to better...Continue reading

Stop cashing out investments to solve debt! ​ There are reasons why RSP’s, insurance policies, equity in the home, among other items are exempt from being liquidated in the event of an insolvency. In an effort to keep this blog post at a reasonable length, I won’t go into detail about our highly leveraged financial system. In...Continue reading

How does 4 Pillars help reduce debt in 2026? For the blog today, I would like to answer some questions that you may be thinking about, but haven’t asked yet. I want to help you understand what we at 4 Pillars actually do for you, the client, and how our services help you to reduce...Continue reading

Obscure Facts about Bankruptcy The term “bankruptcy” is not synonymous with simply losing all of your money and assets. It also doesn’t mean all of your debts are cleared, or that you will lose your house and furniture. There are also many other options available to deal with crippling debt other than declaring bankruptcy. The...Continue reading

Separating Debt Fact from Debt Fiction There’s a lot of information flying around the internet. It can be a little overwhelming when you need to distinguish fact from fiction. FACT, no matter how many times you share that notice on your Facebook page, Mark Zuckerberg is NOT sending you a million dollars. Sorry. Neither is...Continue reading