New report suggests 32 per cent of Albertans can't cover their bills

A new consumer debt index report from MNP suggests that nearly half of Albertans (47 per cent) are $200 or less away from failing to meet their financial obligations.

The MNP Consumer Debt Index indicates another 32 per cent of respondents already can’t cover their bills and debt payments, an increase of 10 percentage points from last quarter.

"What is draining on Albertans' budgets as opposed to some of our neighbours, is the rental costs and, the living costs here," said Lindsay Burchill, a licensed insolvency trustee with MNP.

"Basic living costs, food, housing are taking up so much of the budget that a person has to make a choice between debt servicing or feeding their family."

The report also finds that 58 per cent of Albertans are concerned that interest rates will remain high, squeezing them out of their financial means, and not providing relief.

"People are desperately waiting for interest rates to fall," said Burchill.

"That tone is new. That desperation is a little bit new, which tells me that people are really at a tipping point in their budgets where they already cut back as much as they can and there's nothing left to give at this point."

The report indicates 69 per cent of Albertans say that the high interest rate hikes over two years have negatively impacted their household budget.

"I think there's a lot of parity between Calgary and Edmonton. Both offices regions do file a lot more consumer proposals than bankruptcies, so that's a settlement option between you and your creditors for generally less than 100 cents on the dollar," said Burchill.

"And that's a reflection of the wages in Alberta, which are still higher as compared to some of the other markets."

The data was compiled by Ipsos, on behalf of MNP, between June 6-11, sampling 2,000 Canadians over 18 years of age.

The margin of error for the poll is accurate plus or minus 2.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.