Rethinking Insolvency Support for Vulnerable Individuals

As part of the inaugural Canadian Insolvency Awards, the Consumer Insolvency Initiative of the Year category was created to recognize work that rethinks how insolvency support reaches people who need it most, particularly where traditional models fall short. The focus is on access, trust, and real-world impact, rather than scale or volume alone.

The partnership between BDO Canada and Gillian’s Place reflected that purpose in practice.

When financial distress is inseparable from personal safety

Gillian’s Place has long served as a critical support for survivors of gender-based violence in the Niagara region, providing emergency shelter, counselling, and outreach during periods of profound personal disruption. For many individuals seeking help, financial distress is not a separate or downstream issue. It is often inseparable from the experience of abuse itself.

Survivors may face debt incurred through coercion, credit damage caused by a former partner, accounts opened or controlled by someone else, or sudden financial instability triggered by the need to leave an unsafe environment. In many cases, these challenges include high-interest consumer debt, rent or utility arrears, CRA issues, and severely damaged credit. Much of that debt is tied directly to financial abuse or survival-driven decisions, including obligations taken on simply to get by.

Compounding these pressures, many individuals do not have consistent income or reliable access to traditional banking, making already complex financial situations even harder to untangle.

Designing support around trust

The BDO and Gillian’s Place partnership was designed around these realities.

“Traditional insolvency services usually step in once someone is stable enough to focus on finances,” said Laura Goodwin of BDO Canada. “This partnership allowed people to get financial help while they were still figuring out safety, housing, and next steps, instead of having to put one on hold to deal with the other.”

Rather than requiring individuals to seek help through conventional insolvency channels, the initiative embeds insolvency and financial wellness support directly within Gillian’s Place’s existing service framework. By meeting people in an environment they already trust, the program removes both practical and psychological barriers that often prevent survivors from accessing meaningful financial guidance.

Through the partnership, BDO professionals provide free, confidential support focused on debt relief options, credit rebuilding, and financial decision-making. The delivery is intentionally trauma-informed, recognizing that these conversations require patience, clarity, and sensitivity to the broader circumstances individuals are navigating.

Restoring control and independence

The emphasis is not only on resolving immediate financial pressure, but on restoring a sense of control and independence. Participants are supported in understanding their options, making informed choices, and planning for longer-term stability alongside the housing, counselling, and safety supports Gillian’s Place provides.

“Most people we worked with were dealing with high-interest debt, rent or utility arrears, CRA issues, and damaged credit,” Laura noted. “A lot of it was tied to financial abuse or survival decisions, like debt taken on just to get by. Many didn’t have consistent income or access to normal banking, which made the situation feel even harder to untangle.”

What distinguished the initiative in the eyes of the judges was both its immediate impact and its broader implications for the profession. The partnership demonstrates how insolvency expertise can function as part of a community support system, rather than as a standalone service accessed only after crisis has peaked.

A model other professionals can adopt

A key takeaway from the initiative is that access itself often matters more than complexity.

“When you meet people where they’re at and work alongside community organizations, you remove a lot of the barriers that stop people from getting help,” Laura said. “It doesn’t have to be complicated. Even small partnerships can make insolvency services more approachable and far more impactful.”

A broader shift in consumer insolvency practice

In recognizing the initiative, the judges highlighted a broader shift underway in consumer insolvency practice - one that places equal weight on outcomes and on how support is delivered, and that acknowledges that financial recovery, particularly for vulnerable individuals, is closely tied to safety, dignity, and trust.

In that sense, the BDO Canada and Gillian’s Place partnership stood out not only for what it achieved, but for how it reimagined the role insolvency professionals can play.

About the Canadian Insolvency Awards

The Canadian Insolvency Awards recognize exceptional restructuring cases, initiatives, and contributions across the insolvency and restructuring profession. Recipients are selected by an independent judging panel based on execution, outcomes, and broader impact, with a focus on cases and team efforts rather than individual recognition.

The BDO Canada and Gillian’s Place Financial Wellness Partnership was recognized as Consumer Insolvency Initiative of the Year at the inaugural Canadian Insolvency Awards on February 5, 2026.