Skarie20 via Getty Images Canadians are "shifting from debt apathy to debt hopelessness" as payments pile up, the president of MNP Ltd. says.

MONTREAL ― Three in 10 Canadian households say they can’t cover all their monthly expenses, and fully half are on the verge of insolvency, a new survey has found. The report from accounting firm MNP Ltd. comes amid warnings from bankruptcy professionals that Canada will see a continued increase in personal bankruptcies and consumer proposals, thanks to rising interest rates over the past several years that are now hitting consumers. Watch: Canadians are doing better than Americans financially, but have way more debt. Story continues below.

While 29 per cent of survey respondents said they currently can’t cover all their monthly expenses, the number rises to 50 per cent when including everyone who is $200 away at the end of the month from insolvency, up from 46 per cent a year earlier. “Our findings may point to a shift among some Canadians from debt apathy to debt hopelessness,” MNP president Grant Bazian said in a statement. “Feelings of hopelessness can make people feel like giving up on ever paying down their debt or, worse, ignoring the debt as it piles up higher.” The survey asked respondents about their financial expectations one year in the future and five years in the future, and found optimism was at or near record lows for the survey that has been running 11 years.