Free Credit & Debt Counselling Services in Regina

Yes, our staff provide credit counselling to the whole province. Before the pandemic, we served everyone from our offices in Regina and Saskatoon, but so many people preferred phone or online meetings that we continued with this model. Today we still serve the entire province by phone. Give us a call. We’d be happy to help you.

The effectiveness of credit counselling can be very strong—provided you work with the right kind of organization. Those with the highest success rates tend to share the following traits:

• They belong to Credit Counselling Canada, a nationwide network of non-profit agencies that follow rigorous standards of transparency and service quality.
• They take time to fully understand your financial circumstances, create a workable budget with you, and review all your available options to deal with your debt and strengthen your financial stability.
• Their staff members aren’t paid commissions or given incentives tied to the recommendations they make, so they are able to provide you with objective guidance.
• Roughly 95% of people who contact these organizations receive help at no cost, and only about 20% end up enrolling in their repayment plan. The rest either get practical guidance they can implement themselves or are referred to another professional for very specific assistance.
• If you choose to enroll in their repayment plan—known as a Debt Management Program—you learn practical money management skills that last a lifetime. Consequently, the relapse rate is under 1%. This compares to roughly 20% of people who file for bankruptcy or a consumer proposal needing to redo the process again at some point in the future.

On the other hand, organizations with lower success rates often operate very differently. Here’s how things tend to look there:

• The help you receive may end up feeling more like a sales pitch than a genuine counselling session.
• Their “credit counsellors” providing advice may lack professional accreditation, have no oversight from a regulatory body, and may not be bound by a strict ethical code. Credit Counselling Canada is the only national credit counselling association in Canada that does not allow it’s members to take advantage of trusting consumers by double charging them for consumer proposals (only a Licensed Insolvency Trustee should charge you money for a consumer proposal).
• They often steer clients toward a Licensed Insolvency Trustee (bankruptcy trustee) for a consumer proposal because this is more profitable for them. Tragically many will effectively double charge their clients when they do this by charging them thousands for a consumer proposal before then referring them to a bankruptcy trustee who by law is the only one allowed to charge for a consumer proposal.
• These “credit counsellors” tend to earn commissions on specific “solutions” they sell. This naturally influences their recommendations and may result in certain viable options never being mentioned. Some of these salespeople also call themselves “debt consultants” and will charge hefty upfront fees before passing you on to a less than reputable bankruptcy trustee. Reputable non-profits never do this. If it looks like either a consumer proposal or bankruptcy are your best option, they’ll simply offer you a list of trustworthy trustees for free.
• Their go-to “solution” is frequently a consumer proposal. While this can sound better than bankruptcy, it’s still insolvency and falls under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act. If the credit counsellors or debt consultants helping you aren’t members of Credit Counselling Canada, there’s a strong chance—possibly as high as 80%—that you won’t leave their office with being convinced to sign up for a program that benefits them financially.
• With consumer proposals and bankruptcies, about 20% of people end up having to file for one of these again in the future. One of the reasons why this can happen is because the underlying causes of financial trouble are never addressed. Quality credit counselling organizations tackle these root issues, which is a big part of why they see better long-term outcomes.

In short, credit counselling isn’t all the same. Some providers prioritize revenue over real help, while long-term results orientated non-profits—often members of Credit Counselling Canada—put people’s needs first, even if it means earning nothing from the interaction. In fact, about 95% of those who contact us receive support completely free of charge, which is something profit-driven agencies simply can’t match.

Speaking with a credit counsellor is entirely private and doesn’t influence your credit score because it is not reported to them. However, enrolling in a Debt Management Program might affect your score—sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn’t, but it’s best to plan for some impact. The good news is that the notation is removed from your report two years after completing the program. With the right steps, you can rebuild your credit quickly, and as part of our Debt Management Program, we provide guidance to help you do just that.

Your experience will depend on whether you choose a for-profit or a non-profit organization. For-profits are typically focused on signing you up for a program that benefits them financially.

Non-profits accredited by Credit Counselling Canada will typically spend about an hour with you, listening to your concerns, learning about your financial situation and goals, and helping you develop a workable budget. From there, they’ll go over potential solutions, discussing the advantages and disadvantages of each, to find the best path forward.

Top quality credit counsellors are experts at budgeting. As part of their process they’ll help you find many ways to fine-tune and optimize your budget to get the most out of it.

By the end of the session, you’ll usually have a clear action plan and a good sense of your next steps forward. If you need more help at any time in the future, you can arrange a free follow-up session.

If a Debt Management Program seems like your best option, they’ll encourage you to take time to decide and even run it by someone you trust.

If a consumer proposal or bankruptcy appears to be a better choice, they’ll refer you to a local Licensed Insolvency Trustee that they trust.

Whether you’re just looking for credit counselling near me or desire more structured financial guidance, these coaching sessions are intended to give you a better picture of your situation and a clear path forward.

Often, yes. Many people use a Debt Management Program from a non-profit as an alternative to bankruptcy or a consumer proposal. A credit counsellor can review your finances in detail and help you determine if this is a realistic solution for you.

Yes. We offer no-cost credit counselling, financial education, and other free resources. More than half of our clients ultimately choose a self-managed plan that costs them nothing. In these cases, we create a personalized action plan and invite you to check in with your counsellor—at no charge—whenever you want advice, encouragement, or help tackling new challenges. When it comes to our debt repayment program, if we believe that someone truly can’t afford the fees, we waive them.

Yes. The Canadian Credit Counselling Society provides free counselling appointments with certified professionals, complimentary financial education webinars, and a wide range of online tools and resources at no cost. A fee only applies if you decide to participate in one of their debt repayment programs. Even then, the costs are minimal, and in some cases, fees can be waived if someone is unable to pay.

Help from the Credit Counselling Society has always been free ever since it started in 1996 as the Credit Counselling Society of BC. Now that we service most of the country, some have referred to us as the Credit Counselling Society of Canada.

Our organization delivers professional, non-profit services to people locally and nationwide. When it comes to finding the best credit counselling Regina offers, you can count on us for trusted guidance, proven accountability, and top client ratings.

Most definitely. The Credit Counselling Society (CCS) is very legitimate. It’s one of the most trusted and recommended credit counselling organizations in Canada. The fact that it’s non-profit and is well known for the high quality of its service have allowed it to continue serving Canadians for almost 30 years.

There was a time when a lot of provinces once ran their own credit counselling programs. However, most eventually found that quality non-profits like ours proved to deliver better results without relying on public funding. Once they discovered this, most switched to referring to non-profits rather than providing the service themselves.

It just so happens now that a lot of the people we help are referred to us by various government bodies from across the country. Some government departments and agencies are even regular users our educational resources and often invite us to provide financial literacy training for their employees.

Over the years, CCS has helped more than a million Canadians through one-on-one help in person and over the phone. We’ve also helped millions more online through our websites. We also operate the largest network of offices among non-profit credit counselling agencies in Canada, and our staff are frequently featured in the media offering insights and advice on personal finance.

A couple of our staff members also write weekly and bi-weekly columns for two major publications, the Financial Post and The Province. The articles are often re-published by media outlets in cities across Canada.

The organization has earned over 80 awards for its outstanding work and along with more than 1,500 online reviews, with an average score of 4.9 out of 5 stars. Each year we survey of over 10,000 of the people we help and for many years now, these surveys show that 98% would recommend CCS to others.

Education is central to our mission, with a team of full-time educators on staff, multiple awards for excellence in financial literacy, and a self-help educational website that has helped millions.

We’re also recognized as an exceptional workplace, earning multiple Great Place to Work Canada® honours for fairness, giving back, including others, employee satisfaction, and support for women and younger professionals.

When it comes to transparency, trust, and accountability, we strive to go the extra mile:

• Our organization is governed by a diverse board of directors who serve as volunteers and come from many different financial and professional backgrounds across Canada.
• An external, independent accounting firm audits our finances each and every year. This is a level of transparency and accountability that no other service provider in our industry adheres to.
• We are governed as a non-profit registered with the Government of Canada.
• We are accredited by and maintain the highest level of standing with the Better Business Bureau (BBB) along with Credit Counselling Canada (CCC), Canada’s credit counselling association with the highest standards of transparency and accountability.
• We were the first Canadian credit counselling agency to become an international affiliate of the National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC)—the largest and most trusted non-profit credit counselling association in North America.

Finally, our staff do not work on commission, ensuring that all advice and guidance provided is impartial and focused solely on what’s best for clients. Because our staff do not receive a financial incentive to promote any particular “solution,” you’ll notice a big difference in the assistance our staff provides compared to many other agencies out there.

No. Years ago, the Saskatchewan government provided credit counselling services and operated a program called Orderly Payment of Debts. In 2012, however, after recognizing the results achieved by the Credit Counselling Society, the province ended its own program and began referring residents directly to CCS. So while government credit counselling Regina is no longer available, CCS has taken its place and carries on the best aspects of its service.