Credit Counselling Society
Providing Free Debt and Credit Help to Lloydminster, Saskatchewan

The success rate of credit counselling is very high if you get help from the right credit counselling organization. Here is what credit counselling organizations with high success rates look like:

• They belong to Credit Counselling Canada, a nationwide network of non-profit agencies that follow rigorous standards of transparency and service quality.
• They will take the time to go over your complete financial situation, help you create a realistic budget, and then objectively look at all your options to resolve your financial challenges and get you back on track.
• Their credit counsellors are not paid commission or incentives of any kind that are tied to the solutions they recommend to the people they help.
• 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 decide to go onto their debt repayment program, called a Debt Management Program, your chances of successfully completing it are high. People who complete this program with a quality non-profit organization also learn life-long skills – and it shows. These programs have less than a 1% recidivism rate (this compares to a 20% recidivism rate for insolvency).

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.
• These “credit counsellors” often lack professional certification, aren’t accountable to an oversight body, and may not follow a strict code of ethics. 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 tend to refer most of their clients to a Licensed Insolvency Trustee (a bankruptcy trustee) because that pays them the most. Unfortunately, many will effectively double charge their clients in doing this by charging them thousands for a consumer proposal before referring them to a bankruptcy trustee who is legally the only one allowed to charge for this.
• These “credit counsellors” earn commissions on the “solutions” they sell and this naturally influences their advice. These people may also call themselves “debt consultants” and often charge large upfront fees before eventually referring their clients to a less than ethical bankruptcy trustee. A legitimate non-profit agency that is accredited by Credit Counselling Canada will never do this. If it looks like an insolvency option is your best choice, they’ll tell you and simply give you a list of local trustees they trust at no cost.
• Their “solution” to your financial problems will probably be a consumer proposal, which sounds more appealing than bankruptcy but pays them more (both are legal options governed by the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act). If they’re not members of Credit Counselling Canada, there’s probably around an 80% chance that you won’t leave their office without being convinced to sign up for a “solution” that earns them money.
• The recidivism rate (repeat rate) for all insolvency options (consumer proposals and bankruptcy) is around 20%. This means that 20% of people who complete these programs will repeat them again in the future. There are many reasons for this but one is that many times no one takes the time to help these people figure out what caused their financial problems in the first place and what proactive steps they can take to avoid similar financial problems in the future. Quality non-profit credit counsellors do this, and it’s one of many reasons why their success rate is very high.

To wrap up this up, not all credit counselling is the same. Some providers focus more on generating revenue than helping people, while reputable non-profits—often members of Credit Counselling Canada—put individuals first, even if that means they don’t earn anything. In fact, about 95% of people who call us for help of some kind end up receiving it completely free without ever paying a thing. It’s easy to see why profit-driven counsellors wouldn’t be interested in offering this kind of support – it doesn’t generate the profits they’re looking for.

Working with a credit counsellor does not affect your credit score in any way. It’s a private, confidential conversation and is never reported anywhere. No one will ever know unless you tell them. However, if you decide to begin a Debt Management Program that is offered by the credit counselling agency, then this may impact your credit score. The odd thing is that sometimes this program affects your credit score while sometimes it doesn’t, but it’s best to assume that it will. Fortunately, the longest the negative effect will last is until 2 years after you finished repaying your program. At this time the credit counselling organization will instruct the credit reporting agencies to remove all records of your Debt Management Program from your credit report. Your credit score can then rebound quickly if you re-establish a form of credit that reports on your credit reports. Your credit counsellor can help coach you through this.

What happens in a credit counselling session depends on what kind of an organization you are dealing with. If you’re dealing with a for-profit agency, the goal is often to help you by getting you to sign up for one of the programs that pays the credit counsellor or their employer. If you’re dealing with a quality non-profit credit counselling agency such as a member of Credit Counselling Canada, they will typically spend close to an hour with you listening to you, finding out what your financial challenges are, finding out what your financial goals are, and the begin the solution process by first helping you put together a realistic budget. With your input, they will construct a budget for you from which you can then begin having a conversation about options that may work for you. The credit counsellor will then help you explore all options that could potentially address your situation. They’ll discuss the pros and cons with you with an eye towards finding something that will help you accomplish your financial goals, get you out of debt within a reasonable time period, and work within your budget.

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 first session, most people will have a good idea of what their next steps are. They will essentially leave the appointment with an action plan of how to begin resolving their situation. If a second session is needed, this can be scheduled as well (and is also free of charge). The counsellor can then resume your previous conversation and hear how you’ve progressed with your first steps.

If you’re considering a Debt Management Program, a good non-profit won’t pressure you into signing up right away. They’ll encourage you to think it over and talk it through with someone you trust.

If you end up deciding that a consumer proposal or bankruptcy is your best option, then the credit counsellor will refer you to a Licensed Insolvency Trustee that they trust. They may even provide you with a number of names for you to choose from.

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.

Yes. We provide credit counselling across Saskatchewan. We used to serve the province from our offices in Regina and Saskatoon, but during the pandemic we switched to serving people over the phone and virtually. So many people preferred this that we continued providing our service this way.

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 are a non-profit and 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.

The Credit Counselling Society is well known for the top quality, free help it provides. In fact, it’s been providing free help ever since starting out as the Credit Counselling Society of BC in 1996. Now we provide services across the country from BC to Quebec, which is why we are sometimes called 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 Lloydminster offers, you can count on us for trusted guidance, proven accountability, and top client ratings.

Many years ago, the Government of Saskatchewan provided credit counselling services. However, in 2012 after observing the work of the Credit Counselling Society in Saskatchewan, the government decided to close their credit counselling office and Orderly Payment of Debts program and refer Saskatchewan residents of Lloydminster and the rest of the province to the Credit Counselling Society instead. So while government credit counselling Lloydminster no longer exists, their chosen replacement, the Credit Counselling Society does and is here to provide free credit counselling advice and guidance.

Yes, the Credit Counselling Society (CCS) is a legitimate and highly respected non-profit organization that’s been helping Canadians manage their money and debt for nearly 30 years.

At one time, a lot of provinces offered their own credit counselling services, but they eventually discovered that non-profits such as ours provided better results provided at a lower cost. Consequently, most provinces now refer people to trust non-profits such as ours.

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, we’ve helped over a million Canadians one-on-one—and have reached millions more through our websites. We have more offices than any other non-profit credit counselling organization in Canada, and our team is frequently featured in the news offering expert advice and insights on financial issues that impact Canadians.

We also regularly write articles for two major news outlets, the Financial Post and The Province, which are often re-published by media outlets across the country.

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.

The work we do has resulted in the organization winning more than 80 awards and receiving over 1,500 online reviews on Google, Yelp, and Facebook. These reviews have an average rating of 4.9 out of 5 stars. We also survey more than 10,000 of our clients every year, and for many years now, over 98% have responded saying they would recommend our service to others.

The organization is also known as a great place to work, with multiple recognitions from Great Place to Work Canada® for supporting young professionals and women, giving back, fairness, including others, and overall employee satisfaction.

When it comes to trust and accountability, we 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.
• Our finances are audited each year by an independent accounting firm—something no other credit counselling agency in Canada does.
• We operate 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 very first international affiliate of the National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC)—North America’s leading non-profit credit counselling organization.

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Finally, we don’t believe commission based compensation is the best way to serve those who look to us for help. Unlike many organizations out there, our staff are never paid commission of any kind. This ensures that every client receives unbiased, objective advice that’s truly in their best interest.