VICTORIA -- J.P. Langlois found himself in debt problems when an ex-business associate asked him to co-sign a lease for a high-end photo printer.

“He sent me one piece of paper, not the $60,000 or $75,000 he owed on a back-lease for something he hadn’t paid to get a new machine,” said Langlois. “He had to pay that.”

Unfortunately, he was now on the hook for that debt and he wasn’t able to pay.

“Even when I think about it now, it’s emotionally draining,” said Langlois.

That’s when he knew he needed help and turned to Sands and Associates, a company that helps with debt and insolvency advice.

“What we do is we help people, individuals and small businesses when they have too much debt,” said Blair Mantin, a licensed insolvency trustee with Sands and Associates.

Langlois’ situation was not related to the pandemic, though the company says that COVID-19 has caused many to become financially devastated, based on a recent study the company commissioned.

“Over 50 per cent of people who filed insolvencies since the lockdown in March – the pandemic was the contributing factor,” said Mantin.

Higher food prices, loss of income and a higher cost of living have many people struggling financially, and the study found that 55 per cent of those polled said credit card debt was the main debt they were carrying. That factor is what is pushing many over the edge.

“If you’re in even over $6,000 in debt you can just really feel like you’re making minimum payments and I’m not getting ahead,” said Mantin. “I’m not paying the debts down over time.”

Interestingly, insolvencies and personal bankruptcies are at a 24-year low right now. Some contributing factors include the Federal Government’s C.E.R.B. payments and the fact that courts were closed for about six months, so you couldn’t be sued for unpaid debt during that time. Sands adds that many creditors were offering payment deferrals during the pandemic, meaning that the current financial landscape could just be the calm before the storm.

“We expect insolvency volumes to continue to climb and I anticipate that they’re going to hit an all-time high, once the impact of this pandemic is really felt and the support of the government starts to go away,” said Mantin.

If you find yourself unable to claw your way out from underneath your debt, you have two options: Filing for personal bankruptcy, or the more popular option of offering a consumer proposal to your creditors. That means agreeing to pay a percentage of your debt, without having to endure the consequences of a bankruptcy.

“The majority of people that are filing are honest but unfortunate debtors, so they go through this traumatic experience,” said Jennifer Thom, estate administrator with Sands and Associates. “They reach out, they go through this process and usually they never want to go there again.”

Two years ago, Langlois chose the option of personal bankruptcy and as of four days ago, he was told he is now in the clear.

“Listen, for what I went through, I’m elated,” said Langlois. “It’s unbelievable how I feel, it’s just the best.”