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The rate of insolvencies in Calgary has reached the highest level since the late 1990s, according to federal statistics.

In a city still struggling from a downturn in the energy industry and from major changes in that sector, insolvencies among Calgary adults in 2018 were filed by 4.3 people per thousand — the highest level since 1997 when the number sat at 4.8, according to figures supplied by the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy Canada.

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The national average in 2018 was also 4.3 per thousand people.

Since the downturn hit in late 2014, those numbers have only gotten worse, with 443 insolvencies recorded in the city last March compared to 225 about five years ago, said Donna Carson, a licensed insolvency trustee with MNP Ltd.

“That number has gone up by 10 per cent, year over year,” said Carson, whose company helps those struggling with debt get back on the right fiscal track.

“I have never seen it this high.”