Filing a bankruptcy means that certain documents can become public, but in your personal life, the only people who will know about your bankruptcy are those who you choose to inform. The amount of information that is public is very limited, and in fact is not very front and center.
The Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy will keep your bankruptcy in their records indefinitely. Records of bankruptcies are considered public and businesses or individuals can pay a fee to the agency and do a check of your name to see if you are bankrupt.
Within 5 days after your Trustee receives the Certificate of Appointment from the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy, your Trustee will send a Notice to Creditors, which notifies all creditors about your bankruptcy. This includes credit card companies, banks, department stores, money marts, friends or family who have co-signed loans or made personal loans, etc.
Credit Bureaus (TransUnion Canada and Equifax Canada) will also be notified of your bankruptcy but these records aren’t permanent. These records are deleted six to seven years from being discharged.
After filing bankruptcy, you must disclose your bankruptcy to any new creditor who will provide more than $1,000 of credit.
In a few bankruptcies, where the value of the bankrupt’s assets is high, the trustee may have to publish a notice to creditors in the newspaper. This is rare. Typically, bankruptcies only make the paper or TV when the person involved is considered important enough to be of interest.
Most people are worried that their employer will find our about their bankruptcy. Your trustee has no reason to notify your employer unless:
It is necessary to stop a garnishment of wages
To obtain tax information that you have failed to give to your trustee
You work in a profession where you are responsible for money
Your work in a profession that has licensing rules that forbids bankruptcy (usually within a time limit).
As you can see, no one will know about your bankruptcy except those noted above unless you tell them. Your bankruptcy is your business and it’s up to you whether your friends and family know about it.
