Consumer proposal in Ontario: how it works, the $250,000 limit and where to start

Limit from Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy (OSB): Consumer proposals (page shows a modified date of December 2, 2015, read November 13, 2026).

The OSB describes one consumer proposal process for the whole country, and we found no Ontario-only steps on its pages. The rules that differ by province are mostly about bankruptcy, such as which assets you can keep, not proposals. The OSB's comparison page says exemptions vary by province for bankruptcy.

So what you read about the steps below applies to someone in Toronto, Ottawa or Thunder Bay. Where you live matters mainly for finding local help and for any provincial rules about your own assets or debts.

Sources: Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy (OSB): Consumer proposals (page shows a modified date of December 2, 2015, read November 13, 2026); OSB: Compare debt solutions (modified November 26, 2025, read November 13, 2026).

• Meet a Licensed Insolvency Trustee. The OSB says the first meeting is typically free. Bring statements, loan papers and your income and expenses.
• The trustee helps build a proposal that creditors are likely to accept, and files it with the OSB. Copies go to your creditors with a report on your finances.
• Once it is filed, you stop paying unsecured creditors directly. Wage garnishments and lawsuits against you are stopped.
• Creditors have 45 days to accept or reject it. A creditors' meeting is held if creditors owed at least 25% of the total claims ask for one.
• If creditors reject it, the trustee can change it and resubmit it, or you can look at other options, including bankruptcy.
• If it is accepted, the Superintendent or another interested party has 15 days to ask for a court review.
• You make the payments to the trustee, who shares them among your creditors. You also attend two counselling sessions.
• When you meet all the terms, you receive a certificate of full performance and are released from the debts in the proposal.

Sources: Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy (OSB): Consumer proposals (page shows a modified date of December 2, 2015, read November 13, 2026); our consumer proposal hub, which cites the OSB for the 25% meeting rule and the 15-day review.

The OSB says you keep your assets as long as you keep making payments to your secured creditors. A mortgage on your main home is not counted toward the $250,000 limit.

If you miss three monthly payments, the proposal is deemed annulled, according to the OSB's rules summarized on our hub.

Source: Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy (OSB): Consumer proposals (page shows a modified date of December 2, 2015, read November 13, 2026).

• Deemed annulled: what happens next

The trustee reports the proposal to Equifax and TransUnion. The OSB says it stays on your credit record for the proposal term plus three more years. The bureau rules differ a little, so read our guide for each.

Source: Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy (OSB): Consumer proposals (page shows a modified date of December 2, 2015, read November 13, 2026). Your name also becomes part of the public insolvency records, per the OSB.

• How long a proposal stays on your credit report
• What a proposal does to your credit
• Rebuilding credit after a proposal

• To file a proposal, you need a Licensed Insolvency Trustee. The OSB keeps a list of licensed trustees you can search.
• To talk about other options first, a non-profit credit counsellor can explain a debt management plan. Our credit counselling guide lists the Ontario locations from the Credit Counselling Canada directory.
• Compare the options side by side before you decide.

Source for the trustee list: OSB: Licensed insolvency trustees. The Ontario counselling list is from our counselling page, which says its directory data is dated 2020.

• Credit counselling by province
• Consumer proposal vs bankruptcy
• Is a consumer proposal worth it?

• What would my monthly payment be, and how long would it last?
• What is the total cost, including fees?
• What happens to my car, home and savings?
• Which of my debts are included and which are not?
• What are the other options, and what would you pick if you were me?

These are our questions, not an official list.