Free Debt & Credit Counselling – London, Ontario

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’ll work with you to understand your entire financial picture, build a practical budget, and help you explore all your options to resolve your debt and improve your financial well-being.
• 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.
• Around 95% of the people who reach out to these organizations are helped for free and only around 20% of the people who sit down with one of their credit counsellors end up going on the organization’s debt repayment program. Everyone else is either provided with a solution they can implement themselves or is referred to another professional for more specific help.
• 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).

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

• You may feel that you’re talking to a sales person rather than a credit counsellor.
• 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 or financial wellness experts 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.
• 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, 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.

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).

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.

You can speak with a credit counsellor as many times as you like, and it will never show up on your credit report. However, if you choose to work with your credit counsellor to enter into a Debt Management Program through a non-profit such as the Credit Counselling Society, then this will show up on your credit report. A Debt Management Program typically stays on your credit report for two years after the program is completed. This is much shorter than the six year record left by a bankruptcy, making it a less damaging alternative for many individuals. It also comes off your credit report about a year sooner than a consumer proposal, but leaves no permanent record with the courts like a consumer proposal does.

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.

Good counsellors are experts at budgeting and as part of their process will help you make the most of what you have.

By the end of the session, you’ll probably have a plan of action and a clear sense of your next steps. If you need more help later, a follow-up session can be scheduled—also free of charge.

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 simply came here looking for credit counselling near me or want more structured financial guidance, these sessions are designed to give you a clear picture of your situation and a path forward.

Yes, our staff provide credit counselling services to the whole province. We serve Ontario with phone and in-person appointments from multiple offices across Ontario.

Yes, a whole lot is available for free. Our non-profit offers free credit counselling, free financial education, and free educational resources. After meeting with one of our credit counsellors (either over the phone or in person), over 50% of the people we help end up pursuing a free option. In these cases, both the credit counsellor and the individual agreed that their best first choice was to address their situation on their own. In each of these cases, the credit counsellor would provide the individual with a realistic action plan. Then as the someone is implementing their plan, they can check in with their credit counsellor at any time (for free) to review their progress, bounce ideas off them, or get advice on how to tackle a particular challenge. If our Debt Management Program looks like an ideal option for someone, but we can see that they can’t afford to pay our small fee, then we’ll waive it. We’re here to find solutions that actually work, and we go to great lengths to help people find the right solution that will fit their financial situation.

Yes. The Canadian Credit Counselling Society offers free counselling sessions with trained professionals, free educational webinars, and a full website with tools and resources—all without cost. The only time a fee applies is if someone joins one of the Society’s debt relief programs. Even then, the costs are low, and fees can be waived if someone can’t afford them.

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.

We offer professional, non-profit help to people throughout the province and across the country. If you’re looking for the best credit counselling London has to offer, we are a trusted, certified, accountable, and highly rated option.

In many cases, yes. A Debt Management Program—offered by a non-profit organization—is a popular alternative to both bankruptcy and consumer proposals. To know if this option could work for you, you’ll need to talk with a credit counsellor who will assess your full financial situation and help you figure out your best choices.

No, government credit counselling in London and Ontario is not a thing. We can share, though, that a lot of provincial governments across Canada have stopped offering credit counselling services in favour of non-profit credit counselling services like ours. In fact, we can share that provincial government ministries and agencies across Canada refer people to us every single day – as do federal government agencies. They also use our financial tools and resources and ask us to teach their employees how to manage their personal finances better.

That would be a strong yes. The Credit Counselling Society (CCS) is a very legitimate and highly respected non-profit organization that’s been assisting Canadians for close to 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.

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.

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.

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.

Education is a big part of CCS’s mission. We have a team of full-time educators and have won multiple awards for excellence in financial literacy.

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.

When it comes to matters of trust and accountability, we work hard to go the extra mile:

• Our finances are audited each year by an independent accounting firm—something no other credit counselling agency in Canada does.
• We’re overseen by a volunteer board of directors made up of financial and professional experts from across Canada.
• 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 maintain our registered non-profit status 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, 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.