These "facts" certainly vary, depending on which report you read. The last line of the article is rather telling, though not often shared.

December consumer bankruptcies jump 50% from previous year
Last Updated: Monday, February 9, 2009 | 9:12 AM ET
CBC News

Consumer bankruptcy filings shot up by 50 per cent in December 2008 from the same month a year earlier, the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy Canada said Monday.

The number of people across the country who made bankruptcy filings in December was 7,821. That was down from 8,163 in November 2008, but well ahead of the 5,192 filings made in December 2007.

For all of 2008, Canadians made 90,610 bankruptcy filings, up 13.5 per cent from 2007.

The increase in filings came as the economic downturn took hold in Canada toward the end of 2008.

Business bankruptcies for December showed a much smaller increase. The federal government agency said 478 firms made bankruptcy filings in December 2008, up 2.4 per cent from December 2007.

Businesses filing for bankruptcy for all of last year actually declined by two per cent from 2007.

Personal bankruptcies among Canadians rose 9% in the first 11 months of 2008 over 2007, Equifax Canada has reported.

The information solutions company’s most recent data, as of Nov. 30, shows that the number of consumer bankruptcy filings for 2008 had reached 109,068, up from 100,253 bankruptcies at the end of November 2007.

By the end of November, total consumer bankruptcies had already surpassed, by 1.6%, the total amount of bankruptcies for all of 2007, which totaled 107,312.

“Unfortunately, our latest data illustrates that the weaker economy coupled with high personal debt levels has led to an increasing number of consumers declaring bankruptcy,” said Nadim Abdo, vice-president of Equifax Consulting Solutions.

The average loss per consumer resulting from bankruptcy had increased most significantly in October and November of 2008, reaching $33,000 (excluding mortgage debt) from $31,000 per consumer in January 2008.

Canadians in every region of the country are filing for bankruptcy in increasing numbers, according to Equifax.

Western Canada experienced a 4.2% increase in bankruptcies between November 30 2007 and November 2008. By November, major cities such as Calgary and Edmonton saw bankruptcies jump from their lowest level in five years during the first two quarters of 2008, to hefty double-digit percentage gains from 2007.

In Ontario, the year-to-date total of consumer bankruptcies in November was 10.5% higher than the same period in 2007. Filings in Toronto reached 12,161, an increase of 8% from 11,276 a year earlier.

Quebec saw bankruptcies up 10% by November, and an even sharper 11.5% in Montreal.

Bankruptcy filings for 2008 in the Maritimes and Newfoundland hit 9,824 by Nov. 30, up by 6.5% from 2007.