Credit delinquencies on rise among Canadian businesses: Equifax

TORONTO – A new report suggests credit delinquencies among Canadian businesses are on the rise.

Equifax Canada’s latest quarterly business credit trends report says there was a 14.3 per cent uptick in the number of businesses that missed a payment on a credit product between the fourth quarter of 2023 and the fourth quarter of 2022.

The report found a significant surge in instalment loan delinquencies, with early-stage delinquencies up by 12.5 per cent and late-stage delinquencies up by 16.3 per cent year-over-year.

Business credit card and line-of-credit delinquencies grew by 1.3 per cent year-over-year.

The new report comes on top of recent data from the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy showing a 41.4 per cent surge in business insolvencies in 2023 compared with 2022.

Equifax says Canadian businesses are struggling with the impact of higher interest rates, a slowdown in consumer spending and pandemic loan repayments.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 19, 2024.