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

Credit counselling can be highly successful when you choose the right kind of organization to help you. The ones with the best track records usually share these qualities:

• 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 don’t earn commissions or incentives based on the advice they give, so their guidance is objective.
• Roughly 95% of people who reach out for help don’t pay anything, and only about 20% go on to join the organization’s repayment program. The rest either receive advice they can follow on their own or are referred to another professional for a more specialized kind of help.
• If you enroll in their repayment program (called a Debt Management Program), you’re likely to succeed. People who complete it often gain valuable financial skills that last a lifetime. These programs have a relapse rate of less than 1%, compared to 20% for bankruptcy or consumer proposals.

Here is what credit counselling organizations often look like that have lower success rates:

• You may feel more like you’re speaking with a salesperson rather than someone who is there to fully and truly help you.
• 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 may tend to push clients toward filing a consumer proposal with a Licensed Insolvency Trustee (bankruptcy trustee) because this earns them more money. Sadly, many will effectively double charge their clients in doing this by first charging them thousands for a consumer proposal before referring them to a bankruptcy trustee who is legally the only one allowed to charge for a consumer proposal.
• 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.
• The “solution” to your situation will likely be a consumer proposal because that is the option that pays them the most and it sounds better than its big brother, bankruptcy (both are legal options governed by the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act). For many people who call themselves “credit counsellors” but aren’t a member of Credit Counselling Canada, there is quite possibly an 80% chance that you won’t leave their office without being convinced to sign up for a program that pays the credit counsellor or debt consultant money.
• With consumer proposals and bankruptcies, around 20% of people end up repeating the process. One reason for this is that many of these individuals aren’t helped to understand and address the root causes of their financial struggles. Quality credit counselling agencies do this—and that’s part of why they achieve better long-term outcomes.

So to summarize, there are a number of ways you can approach credit counselling in Canada. Many people who call themselves credit counsellors treat the people they help as a business and often put profits ahead of doing what’s in an individual’s best interest. Quality non-profits who are often members of Credit Counselling Canada tend to have high success rates because they put the interests of each individual they help first even if this means their organization will not make any money off of that individual (this happens around 95% of the time when people call in for help and around 80% of the time when people meet with a credit counsellor in person. You can see why a profit focused credit counsellor would not be happy helping this many people for free).

You can talk to one of our credit counsellors as often as you like, and it will never be recorded on your credit report. However, if you decide to complete a Debt Management Program through your credit counsellor and a recognized non-profit like the Credit Counselling Society, any notation on your credit report will disappear no later than two years after your final payment. This is much faster than the six years for bankruptcy. It also clears from your credit report about a year sooner than a consumer proposal and, unlike proposals, doesn’t leave any record in the public court system or impact future employment options.

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.

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.

Quality credit counsellors are budgeting experts. As part of the process, they will likely help you find ways to optimize your budget and 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 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, 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.

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, there’s plenty of free support available. Our non-profit provides no-cost counselling, financial education, and free educational resources. More than half of the people we assist end up choosing a free solution they can manage on their own. In these situations, they receive a personalized action plan, and they’re welcome to follow up with their counsellor (at no cost) for ongoing support or advice as they implement it. If it looks like our debt repayment plan is someone’s best option, but their budget can’t afford our small fee, then we’ll waive it. We’re all about helping people find workable solutions and removing barriers that keep them from moving forward.

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.

We provide professional, non-profit support to individuals across the province and throughout Canada. For those seeking the best credit counselling Warman can provide, our team is recognized for being dependable, accredited, and highly recommended.

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 residents of Warman and the rest of the province to the Credit Counselling Society instead. So while government credit counselling Warman no longer exists, their chosen replacement, the Credit Counselling Society does and is here to provide free credit counselling advice and guidance.

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.

At one time, many provincial governments offered their own credit counselling services. But over time, they found that non-profit organizations like ours were able to provide better service at a lower cost—without relying on government funding. As a result, most provinces now refer people to trusted non-profits like us instead.

As it turns out, many of the people we help are now referred to us by government agencies and departments across the country. Some government entities even make use of our educational resources and invite our staff to provide financial literacy training to their staff.

Since we first opened our doors, we have helped more than a million Canadians over the phone or in person and have helped millions more online. We operate more offices than any other non-profit credit counselling agency in the country, and our staff members are frequently featured in the media offering financial tips, insight, and advice.

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.

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:

• We’re overseen by a volunteer board of directors made up of financial and professional experts from across Canada.
• Our finances are audited each year by an independent accounting firm—something no other credit counselling agency in Canada does.
• We’re accredited by Credit Counselling Canada (CCC), our industry’s national association with the highest standards of transparency and accountability, and the Better Business Bureau (BBB).
• We are governed as a non-profit registered with the Government of Canada.
• 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, 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.