Credit Counselling Society Serving Humboldt, Saskatchewan
Free Debt & Credit Help

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:

• Typically a member of Credit Counselling Canada, an association of non-profit credit counselling organizations with the highest standards of quality and transparency in the industry.
• 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.
• 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).

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

• You may feel that you’re talking to a sales person rather than a credit counsellor.
• The “credit counsellors” who have lower success rates are often not professionally accredited, are not accountable to an accreditation body, and are not held to an objective, professional code of conduct and ethics. Credit Counselling Canada is the only national credit counselling association in Canada that prohibits its members from taking 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.
• 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.

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.

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.

Your experience will depend on the type of organization you choose. If it’s a for-profit company, their priority may be enrolling you in a program that earns them money. But if it’s a non-profit like one accredited by Credit Counselling Canada, the session will be very different.

You’ll likely spend close to an hour with a counsellor who listens to your concerns, learns about your situation and goals, and then helps you build a realistic budget that works. From there, you’ll review all the options that might help, weighing the pros and cons of each. The goal is to find a solution that fits your situation, helps you get out of debt within a reasonable time, and stays 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 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 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 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.

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 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.

We provide professional, non-profit support to individuals across the province and throughout Canada. For those seeking the best credit counselling Humboldt 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 Humboldt and the rest of the province to the Credit Counselling Society instead. So while government credit counselling Humboldt 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, 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.

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.

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.

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.

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 operate as a non-profit registered with the Government of 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 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.