Some British Columbians are already falling behind on bill payments as a consequence of the COVID-19 crisis.
More than half (51%) of households have experienced a drop in income due to the economic fallout caused by the pandemic, according to a survey conducted on Monday.
Nearly one in five (19%) people in BC are behind on their finances, the Bromwich+Smith Licensed Insolvency Trustees/Leger Research poll found.
Credit cards, utilities and cell phone bills are most likely to be missed first, the study claims.
Meanwhile, nearly half (47%) of the people asked in the survey said they are worried about falling behind their payments in the future.
"The results are quite staggering,” said David de Lange, senior vice president at Leger Research.
“Of course, we get a sense of what is happening when we read the news, but the survey results make it far more real having interviewed 750 people across BC, Alberta and Ontario.”
According to the study, residents will first seek out government assistance (34%) to help them out of their situation.
But a quarter of those asked said they do not know what to do.
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