After experiencing a decline in the personal bankruptcy rate in Brantford in 2005 and 2006, the number of personal bankruptcy filings in Brantford increased by 13% in 2007. In total, 384 residents of Brantford went bankrupt in 2007.
In addition, a further 112 Brantford, Ontario residents filed a consumer proposal in 2007, a 12% increase from the 100 people in Brantford who filed a consumer proposal in 2006.
While the unemployment rate declined slightly in 2007 in Brantford, employment growth was a tepid 1%. Similar to other communities in Ontario, Brantford has lost higher paying manufacturing jobs and replaced these with lower paying service jobs. In early 2007, Genfast Manufacturing Company was just one company to close resulting in the loss of 210 jobs in Brantford. In August, Canadian Blue Bird closed affecting a further 130 manufacturing jobs. The list of plant closings also included Easton Coatings, Dura Automotive and Kester Canada.
By way of contrast, personal bankruptcies increased by 5.2% in all of Ontario, and by only 0.7% in all of Canada, so obviously Brantford has been hit harder than other cities in Canada.
If you have lost your job, or had your hours cut back at work, or if you are just faced with more debt than you can handle, please call me in Brantford at 519-770-4440, or e-mail me to set up a meeting to review your options, and let me help you find a solution to your debt problems.
