How to Stop Wage Garnishment Immediately (Canada 2026)

Wage garnishment can be stopped immediately within 24-48 hours by filing a consumer proposal or bankruptcy with a Licensed Insolvency Trustee, or within 2-4 weeks by negotiating a payment plan with the creditor, challenging the garnishment amount if it exceeds provincial limits, or paying the debt in full. Once a creditor obtains a court judgment, they can seize a portion of your paycheque through your employer until the debt is satisfied. The fastest and most protective option is filing a consumer proposal, which triggers a legal stay of proceedings that stops all wage garnishment and collection activity while you repay a reduced amount over 3-5 years.

What Is Wage Garnishment and How Does It Work in Canada?

Wage garnishment is a legal process where a creditor obtains a court order requiring your employer to deduct a portion of your paycheque and remit it directly to the creditor until your debt is paid. To stop garnishment quickly, find a Licensed Insolvency Trustee for a free consultation. Before garnishing your wages, most creditors must first sue you and obtain a judgment from the court proving you owe the debt. Once the judgment is granted, the creditor applies for a garnishment order that your employer must legally comply with.

CRA is an exception to this rule. The Canada Revenue Agency can garnish wages without obtaining a court judgment by issuing a Requirement to Pay notice directly to your employer under the Income Tax Act. This administrative power allows CRA to bypass the court system entirely when collecting tax debt.

Your employer deducts the garnished amount from each paycheque and sends it to the creditor or court. Garnishment continues until the debt plus interest and legal costs are paid in full, which can take months or years depending on the amount owed. Provincial laws limit how much creditors can garnish to ensure you retain enough income for basic living expenses.

How Much Can Creditors Garnish from Your Paycheque by Province?

Provincial wage protection laws determine what percentage of your net income is exempt from garnishment. Ontario and New Brunswick offer the strongest protection, exempting 80% of net wages and allowing creditors to garnish a maximum of 20%. BC, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and PEI protect 70% of wages, allowing 30% garnishment.

Alberta provides the weakest wage protection in Canada. The province protects only 50% of wages up to $800 plus $200 per dependent, with a maximum exemption of $3,200. This means Alberta creditors can garnish up to 50% of your paycheque in many cases.

Judges have discretion to adjust garnishment amounts based on individual financial hardship. If the standard garnishment percentage leaves you unable to afford rent, utilities, or groceries, you can apply to the court to reduce the garnishment amount. You must provide evidence of your monthly expenses and demonstrate genuine hardship.

Family support garnishments follow different rules and can reach 50% of wages even in provinces with stronger general protection. Child support and spousal support are prioritized over other debts, and family courts can order higher garnishment percentages when deliberate non-payment is proven. Federal benefits like Canada Pension Plan (CPP) and Old Age Security (OAS) are exempt from garnishment.

Use the wage garnishment calculator to see exactly how much creditors can take from your paycheque based on your province and income.

5 Legal Ways to Stop Wage Garnishment in Canada

You have five legal options to stop wage garnishment, each with different timelines, costs, and levels of protection.

1. File a consumer proposal (24-48 hours, legal protection)

A consumer proposal is a legally binding agreement filed by a Licensed Insolvency Trustee that immediately stops all wage garnishment through a stay of proceedings. You offer to pay creditors a reduced amount, typically 20-40% of what you owe, over 3-5 years in fixed monthly payments. The proposal stops garnishment within 24-48 hours once your employer receives the stay notice from your LIT.

Consumer proposals cost nothing upfront. All fees are paid from your proposal payments according to federal tariff. You keep all assets including your home, car, and RRSPs. The proposal reports as R7 on your credit file and is removed 3 years after completion or 6 years from filing, whichever comes first.

2. File bankruptcy (24-48 hours, legal protection)

Bankruptcy provides the same immediate stay of proceedings that stops wage garnishment within 24-48 hours. Bankruptcy discharges 100% of unsecured debt in 9-21 months depending on your income and whether you must make surplus income payments. You must surrender non-exempt assets, though exemption amounts vary by province.

Bankruptcy reports as R9 on your credit file for 6 years after discharge. It is typically considered when you cannot afford consumer proposal payments or when you owe more than $250,000 in unsecured debt, which exceeds the consumer proposal limit.

3. Negotiate a payment arrangement (2-4 weeks, no legal protection)

Contact the creditor directly to negotiate a payment plan that satisfies the judgment. If the creditor agrees to your proposed payment schedule, they will file a notice with the court to withdraw the garnishment order. This process typically takes 2-4 weeks to complete.

Payment arrangements provide no legal protection. If you miss payments, the creditor can immediately reinstate garnishment without returning to court. Other creditors can still sue you and obtain separate garnishment orders.

4. Pay the debt in full (immediate once paid, no legal protection during process)

Paying the full judgment amount plus accrued interest and legal costs stops garnishment immediately. Contact the creditor or court to determine the exact payoff amount. Once payment is received and processed, the creditor files a satisfaction of judgment and the garnishment ends.

Most people facing garnishment cannot afford lump-sum payment. This option works best when you can access emergency funds from family, sell assets, or cash out investments.

5. Challenge the garnishment amount (varies, requires legal filing)

If the garnishment exceeds your province’s legal limits, you can file a motion with the court to reduce it to the allowable percentage. You can also challenge garnishment if the underlying debt is past your province’s statute of limitations and the creditor obtained the judgment by default without you filing a defense.

Challenging a garnishment requires filing court documents and potentially attending a hearing. Consider consulting a paralegal or lawyer to ensure proper procedure. This option takes 2-8 weeks depending on court scheduling.

How Consumer Proposals Stop Garnishment (Fastest Legal Protection)

Filing a consumer proposal triggers an immediate legal stay of proceedings under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act that stops all collection actions including wage garnishment, lawsuits, and collection calls. The stay takes effect the moment your Licensed Insolvency Trustee files the proposal with the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy, not when creditors vote or approve it.

Your LIT contacts your employer directly, typically by fax or email with tracking confirmation, to notify them of the filing and provide proof of the stay. Employers are legally required to stop garnishment immediately upon receiving this notice. Most employers process the change within 1-2 pay periods, meaning garnishment stops within 24-48 hours of notification.

The stay remains in effect throughout your entire proposal term, which can be up to 5 years. As long as you maintain your proposal payments, creditors cannot garnish your wages or take any other collection action. If your income increases during the proposal, your payment amount remains fixed and never increases.

Consumer proposals are accepted by creditors in approximately 99% of cases according to industry data. In 2024, 78.6% of Canadians who filed insolvency chose consumer proposals over bankruptcy. Proposals allow you to keep all assets while paying significantly less than you owe, making them the most popular debt relief option for Canadians with garnishable income.

Use the consumer proposal calculator to see if you qualify and estimate payments.

CRA Wage Garnishment: Different Rules and How to Stop It

CRA operates under different rules than regular creditors when collecting tax debt. The Canada Revenue Agency can garnish your wages without obtaining a court judgment by issuing a Requirement to Pay notice directly to your employer under section 224 of the Income Tax Act. CRA typically issues these notices 90-180 days after sending demand letters for unpaid tax debt.

CRA can garnish up to 50% of your gross income for employees and up to 100% of receivables for contractors or self-employed individuals. Provincial wage protection limits do not apply to CRA garnishment. Even in Ontario, where creditors are limited to 20% of net wages, CRA can take 50% of gross income before any deductions.

The only ways to stop CRA wage garnishment are filing a consumer proposal or bankruptcy, or negotiating a payment arrangement before CRA issues the Requirement to Pay. Once the Requirement to Pay is issued to your employer, CRA will not remove it unless you pay the full amount owed or file insolvency.

Consumer proposals and bankruptcy stop CRA garnishment immediately through the stay of proceedings. Both options allow you to include tax debt and repay a reduced amount over time. CRA typically accepts consumer proposals that offer more than they would receive in bankruptcy, making proposals the preferred option for most people with tax debt.

If you owe CRA debt but garnishment has not yet started, contact CRA immediately to arrange a payment plan. CRA will agree to payment arrangements if you demonstrate willingness to pay and provide accurate financial information. However, once garnishment begins, CRA becomes much less willing to negotiate.

What Happens If You Don’t Stop Wage Garnishment?

Garnishment continues until the full judgment amount plus interest and legal costs are satisfied, which can take months or years. A $15,000 judgment with 20% garnishment in Ontario on a $3,000 monthly net income results in $600 per month being sent to the creditor, taking 25 months to repay before accounting for interest.

Many people facing garnishment fall behind on other bills because they cannot afford rent, utilities, and groceries with reduced income. Late payments on other debts damage your credit score and can result in additional collection actions. You may face eviction, utility disconnection, or repossession of assets. If you’re also dealing with job loss, the financial pressure compounds rapidly.

Nothing prevents other creditors from suing you and obtaining separate garnishment orders while the first garnishment is active. Multiple garnishments can occur simultaneously, though combined garnishment is still subject to provincial maximums. If two creditors each want to garnish 20% of your Ontario wages, they may split the allowable 20% garnishment or the second creditor may have to wait until the first is satisfied.

Your employer is required to process garnishment orders and cannot simply refuse or ignore them. While employers cannot legally terminate you for having wages garnished, repeated garnishments can strain the employment relationship due to administrative burden. Some employers become frustrated with the paperwork and time required to process multiple garnishment orders.

Garnishment does not resolve the underlying financial problem. Even after one garnishment ends, you may still owe multiple other creditors who can pursue their own judgments and garnishments. Ignoring debt collectors leads to an endless cycle of lawsuits and garnishment that only legal protection through consumer proposal or bankruptcy can break. If you’re experiencing multiple warning signs that you need a consumer proposal, garnishment is often the final indicator that formal debt relief is necessary.

Bottom Line: Stop Garnishment with Legal Protection

Wage garnishment shrinks your paycheque by 20-50% depending on your province and can continue for months or years until the full judgment is satisfied. The fastest way to stop garnishment is filing a consumer proposal or bankruptcy with a Licensed Insolvency Trustee, which triggers an immediate legal stay of proceedings that stops garnishment within 24-48 hours once your employer is notified. Consumer proposals allow you to keep all assets while repaying only 20-40% of what you owe over 3-5 years, making them the most popular option for 78.6% of Canadians who filed insolvency in 2024.

Provincial wage protection varies significantly: Ontario and New Brunswick protect 80% of wages, BC and Quebec protect 70%, and Alberta protects only 50%. CRA operates under different rules and can garnish up to 50% of gross income without a court order, with no provincial caps applying to tax debt. Payment arrangements with creditors can stop garnishment but provide no legal protection if you miss payments, while consumer proposals and bankruptcy provide permanent protection through federal law.

Get a free consultation with a Licensed Insolvency Trustee to stop wage garnishment within 48 hours with no upfront cost. File a consumer proposal today.

Disclaimer: This article provides general information about Canadian wage garnishment laws and should not be considered legal or financial advice. Consult a Licensed Insolvency Trustee or lawyer for advice specific to your situation. Provincial garnishment rules and exemption amounts vary.

Last updated: February 2, 2026