06:02 AM EST, 11/14/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Canadian consumer insolvencies have continued to march up from their pandemic-era lows, said Bank of Montreal (BMO).

As of September, the 12-month pace has reached its pre-pandemic highs of around 11,600, noted the bank.

Given elevated household debt and upward pressure from mortgage resets, it's perhaps "heartening" to see insolvencies haven't risen even higher, stated BMO.

While mortgage resets will continue to act as a headwind for the next couple of years, past monetary easing has pushed rates well below stress test levels, suggesting households still have some buffer left, pointed out the bank.

Meantime, the Bank of Canada highlighted last year that renters were showing more signs of financial stress, indicating that this group could be driving the increase in insolvencies.

Here, too, there has been some relief from a softening rental market, added BMO. However, these households skew lower-income, so they are disproportionately affected by sticky inflation, especially for groceries.

While economic growth and the job market remain weak, this will be one metric that BMO, and the BoC, will be watching for signs of strain in household finances.