Free Credit & Debt Counselling Services in Mississauga

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’re members of Credit Counselling Canada, a national association for non-profit credit counselling agencies that follow strict standards for quality and transparency.
• 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 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).

In contrast, credit counselling services with lower success rates tend to operate quite differently. Here’s what they often look like:

• 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.
• The “credit counsellor” is paid commission and this is reflected in the “solutions” they promote and the alternative options they discourage. Sometimes the person who helps you is called a financial wellness expert or debt consultant and will attempt to charge you thousands of dollars for their help before then referring you to a less than reputable Licensed Insolvency Trustee. A quality non-profit credit counselling organization will not charge you fees and then refer you to someone else. If it looks like an insolvency option is in your best interest, then they’ll provide you with contact information for a number of local trustees they are comfortable with entirely 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.

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’s not reported to the credit reporting agencies. 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 credit 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.

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 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 decide that a Debt Management Program offered by the credit counselling organization is your best solution, a quality non-profit will never allow you to sign-up that day. They will always insist that you go home, sleep on it, and discuss it with anyone whose advice you value. A quality decision should not be made on the spot and should always be carefully considered.

If it turns out that a consumer proposal or bankruptcy makes the most sense, they’ll refer you to a trusted Licensed Insolvency Trustee they trust—often providing a list so you can choose.

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

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.

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.

In fact, many of our clients are referred to us by government departments and agencies from across the country. Some government organizations even use our educational resources and invite us to provide financial literacy training for their staff.

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.

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 proud to be known as a great place to work. CCS has been named one of Canada’s 50 Best Workplaces multiple times and has been recognized for its commitment to women, millennials, fairness, giving back, and inclusion by Great Place to Work Canada®.

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

• Our finances are independently audited every year by an external accounting firm—something no other credit counselling organization in Canada does.
• 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.
• 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 operate as a non-profit registered with the Government of Canada.
• We were the very first international affiliate of the National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC)—North America’s leading non-profit credit counselling organization.

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, the Government of Ontario does not offer credit counselling. We can share, though, that many provincial government ministries and agencies across Canada refer people to us every day. The federal government does as well. In addition to this, they also use our resources and have us teach their employees how to manage their finances better.