Missed payments by Manitoba small businesses rise

Missed payments by Manitoba small businesses rose nearly 13 per cent earlier this year, new Equifax Canada data show.

The credit bureau counted 2,005 Manitoba businesses that didn’t meet at least one payment deadline between April and June, when looking at financial trade delinquencies. Construction, mining, transportation and wholesale trades were among the categories to see increased delinquency rates.

“Provinces that have been stable in the past are really showing areas where they’re starting to pull apart,” said Jeff Brown, Equifax Canada’s head of commercial solutions.

Manitoba’s financial trades delinquency rate year-over-year change outpaced the national average of 8.67 per cent.

Still, the keystone province’s financial trades delinquency rate — which measures payments procured from financial institutions, like lines of credit — remains lower than Canada overall.

Manitoba’s rate is 3.15 per cent, while Canada’s is 3.33 per cent.

The province follows a rising trend across the country, Brown noted: he believes Manitoba companies are largely affected by people tightening their wallets.

“Even though there’s a ‘Buy Canada’ movement happening, it hasn’t replaced the fact that consumers are spending a lot less,” Brown said.

“When they’re not ready to pay for the prices that are out there… the small businesses pay the price.”

An ongoing United States–Canada trade war has hurt the manufacturing sector, which is reflected in some provinces’ delinquency rates, Brown said.

Manitoba’s included: the manufacturing sector saw an 11.1 per cent year-over-year increase — to 3.02 per cent — in its financial trades delinquency rate.

“It’s not a surprise,” Chuck Davidson, president of the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce, said of Equifax Canada’s findings.

He pointed to decreased exports to the United States and relatively new tariffs. This business quarter — July through September — it seems more businesses are proving compliance with Canada–United States–Mexico Agreement requirements, allowing them to avoid tariffs, Davidson said.

“The cost of almost everything has increased for small businesses,” noted Brianna Solberg, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business’s director of legislative affairs for the Prairies and Northern Canada.

Consumers have faced similar cost increases, she continued: “They’re being forced to make tough decisions.”

The average Manitoban’s debt, excluding a mortgage, was $18,487 last quarter, Equifax data show. Manitoba trails behind all other provinces in consumers’ average debt.

Manitoba’s industrial trades delinquency rate increased 1.69 per cent year-over-year, to a total 4.41 per cent, in the second quarter of 2025.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com