You cannot make your minimum payments. Here is what to do this week.
Missing a minimum payment is not the end of anything. It is a signal that the current plan does not work, and there is a well worn path out of it. This page is the order of operations, starting with the parts that cost nothing.
Updated July 25, 2026The first 48 hours
Protect the roof, the transport and the food. Everything else can wait a week without permanent damage.
When money runs short, the instinct is to pay whoever shouted loudest. That is usually the wrong order. Pay in this order instead, because the consequences of missing each one are wildly different.
Rent or mortgage, and utilities
Losing housing is the one outcome that is genuinely hard to reverse. If the mortgage payment is the problem, call the lender before you miss it. FCAC expects federally regulated banks to help borrowers in exceptional circumstances, and a conversation before a missed payment is a completely different conversation than one after.
Secured loans, starting with the car if you need it to work
A car loan is secured by the car. Missing it risks the asset and the income it supports.
Food, medication, child care
These are not optional and cutting them to service a credit card is a false economy that ends in more debt.
Unsecured debt, last
Credit cards, lines of credit, personal loans and buy now pay later. These hurt your credit report first, not your housing. That does not make them harmless, it makes them the thing you triage rather than the thing you panic about.
Then do one more thing in the first 48 hours: write down every debt you have, the balance, the interest rate, the minimum payment and the due date. One page. Most people carrying too much debt have never seen the whole picture in one place, and the whole picture is what every good decision from here depends on.
Start with the help that costs nothing
Before you borrow, before you sign anything, and before you call a number you saw in an advertisement, use the free options. They are genuinely free, they are regulated or not for profit, and for a large share of people they are simply the better answer.
- A not for profit credit counsellor. The first appointment is normally free. They will look at your whole situation and tell you honestly whether you need a plan or a legal process. Find an accredited agency through Credit Counselling Canada. FCAC also names the Canadian Association for Financial Empowerment, and in Quebec the ACEF network listed by the Coalition des associations de consommateurs du Quebec.
- A free consultation with a Licensed Insolvency Trustee. LITs are federally licensed and supervised by the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy. The first meeting is free and they are legally required to explain all your options, not just the ones they administer. Search the official register at the OSB trustee search.
- Calling your creditors yourself. Free, and more effective than most people expect. Ask for a hardship arrangement, a lower rate, or a payment plan. Banks and card issuers have hardship teams because unpaid debt costs them more than a reduced payment does.
- The federal debt self assessment. The OSB runs a free debt questionnaire that points you to the right category of solution. No sales call attached.
We earn nothing from any of the four options above. We are listing them first because they are the right first move, and because a page that buries them under a loan application is not worth reading.
The rest of the week, in order
Call each unsecured creditor and use the word hardship
Ask three specific questions. Can you reduce or waive interest for a period. Can you accept a reduced payment for three months. Will this be reported to the credit bureaus, and how. Write down the name of the person you spoke to and the date. Then follow up in writing, so there is a record.
Pull your credit report
You are entitled to your credit report from Equifax and TransUnion. You need it for two reasons: to make sure nothing is on there that is not yours, and because you cannot negotiate what you cannot see. Errors are common and they are free to dispute.
Cut the recurring costs, not the groceries
Subscriptions, phone plans, insurance you are paying twice for through a card benefit, and bank fees. This is dull and it is also where most people find the first hundred dollars a month.
Book the free consultations
One with a not for profit credit counsellor, one with a Licensed Insolvency Trustee. Both are free. Go to both before you decide anything. If the two of them tell you the same thing, you have your answer. If they disagree, you have learned exactly where the real decision is.
Only then look at a product
A consolidation loan, a balance transfer or a line of credit is a tool, and only one that helps if the new rate is genuinely lower, the term is not much longer, and the spending that created the balance has actually stopped. If any of those three is untrue, the product will make this worse. We wrote a whole page on exactly when that is the case.
What actually happens if you do nothing
Uncertainty is what makes this frightening. Here is the ordinary sequence for an unsecured Canadian debt. Timing varies by lender and by province, so treat this as the shape of the thing rather than a schedule.
| Roughly when | What typically happens |
|---|---|
| 1 to 29 days late | Fees and interest accrue. Usually not yet reported as a late payment to the bureaus. |
| 30, 60, 90 days late | Reported late to Equifax and TransUnion. Your score falls. The lender's internal collections team starts calling. |
| Often around 90 to 180 days | The account may be charged off and referred or sold to a collection agency. FCAC notes you will usually receive a written notice before an agency contacts you. |
| After that | Collection activity, and in some cases a lawsuit. A judgment can lead to wage garnishment. This is where provincial rules and limitation periods matter a great deal. |
| Six years | Under Equifax Canada's rules a collection or charged off account drops off six years from the date of first delinquency. |
A collection or charged off account is removed from an Equifax Canada credit report six years from the date of first delinquency on the account, which is typically when it went to collection. A judgment stays six years from the date reported.
Source: Equifax Canada, read July 25, 2026.
Three things not to do
Do not take a payday loan to make a minimum payment. FCAC's own comparison, using a $300 loan over 14 days, puts a payday loan at $42 against $5.92 on a line of credit, $7.42 on overdraft protection and $7.65 on a credit card cash advance. FCAC notes that $14 per $100 is the same as an annual interest rate of approximately 365 per cent.
Do not pay a company an upfront fee to fix your credit. FCAC is direct about this: it is impossible to change or erase accurate information in your credit history, and improving a score takes time and paid on time behaviour, not a fee.
Do not ignore a Statement of Claim or any court document. Missing a deadline can turn a disputed debt into a default judgment. If you receive court paperwork, get advice quickly. Every province has legal aid or a community legal clinic system.
FCAC has published the specific claims that should end a conversation. A company should never guarantee to cut your debt by a large percentage, never promise your creditors will negotiate, never claim it can stop a wage garnishment or a lawsuit, and never present itself as part of a government programme when it is not.
One hard line worth memorising: only a Licensed Insolvency Trustee may administer a consumer proposal or a bankruptcy in Canada. Any company that offers to file one for you, for a fee, is charging you to walk you to a trustee you could have seen for free.
Common questions
Will missing one minimum payment ruin my credit score?
One payment reported 30 days late will lower your score, but it is not permanent and it is far less damaging than a debt going to collections. Under Equifax Canada's retention rules a collection or charged off account stays on your report for six years from the date of first delinquency, so the goal in the first month is to keep the account out of collections, even if you can only make a partial or reduced payment.
Should I use my credit card to pay another credit card?
Only in the narrow case of a genuine promotional balance transfer where you have read the fee and the expiry date and you are certain you can clear it before the promotional rate ends. Taking a cash advance to make a payment is almost always worse, because cash advances usually charge interest from day one with no grace period.
Can I lose my home or my car over credit card debt?
Not directly and not quickly. Credit cards and lines of credit are unsecured, so a creditor would need to sue, obtain a judgment, and then enforce it. Secured debts are different: a car loan is secured by the car and a mortgage by the home, so those payments should be protected first. This is general information, not legal advice.
Is it too early to call a Licensed Insolvency Trustee?
No. The first consultation is free and there is no obligation. Trustees are federally licensed and are required to explain every option, including the ones they do not administer and earn nothing from. Many people leave that meeting with a budget fix rather than an insolvency filing.
Will talking to a credit counsellor hurt my credit score?
FCAC states plainly that simply talking to a credit counsellor will not affect your credit score. Enrolling in a debt management plan is different and is usually reported to the credit bureaus, so ask the agency exactly how it will be reported before you sign.
Sources
- Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, Getting help from a credit counsellor. Source for how to vet an agency and which associations to check. Read July 25, 2026.
- Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy, Find a Licensed Insolvency Trustee. The official federal search tool. Read July 25, 2026.
- Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy, debt questionnaire. A free federal government self assessment tool. Read July 25, 2026.
- Equifax Canada, How long does information stay on my credit report. Source for the retention periods used on this page. Read July 25, 2026.
- Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, Using a debt settlement company. Source for the risks, the prohibited promises, and the rule that only a Licensed Insolvency Trustee may administer a proposal or bankruptcy. Read July 25, 2026.
- Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, Payday loans. Source for the cost comparison on a $300 loan over 14 days and the approximately 365 per cent annual equivalent. Read July 25, 2026.
- Credit Counselling Canada, Members. The member list of accredited not for profit agencies. Read July 25, 2026.
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