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Personal insolvencies in Canada increased last year to the highest level and at the fastest rate since the financial crisis while business insolvencies rose for the first time in nearly two decades, government figures show.

The Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy reported Monday 137,178 Canadians filed for bankruptcy or modified repayment terms with creditors last year, a 9.5 per cent increase over 2018. It marked the most filings since 151,712 in 2009 and the quickest annual increase since then, the office said.

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tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or 375 Canadians a day went insolvent last year, the most since the financial crisis Back to video

The pace amounted to 375 people a day seeking financial protection or debt restructuring, the statistics show.

The growth in consumer insolvencies and the accelerating insolvency rate is a symptom of a bigger problem Andre Bolduc of the Canadian Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Professionals

“The growth in consumer insolvencies and the accelerating insolvency rate is a symptom of a bigger problem,” Andre Bolduc, a board member of the Canadian Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Professionals, said in a statement. “Many who have amassed unmanageable debt have no path out.”