Imagine carrying the weight of financial stress day after day—uncertain how to move forward, unsure who to trust. For thousands of Canadians, relief begins with a phone call to Glenn Steiner.
Glenn is an Alberta Licensed Insolvency Trustee (LIT) with Allan Marshall & Associates, where he helps individuals and families manage difficult financial situations. But his path to this role was not a straight line—it followed a course grounded in public service, integrity, and a deep commitment to help people find hope again.
From Public Service to Personal Impact
Glenn’s professional story began with a long-standing career as a federal public servant. For years, he served as a national trainer in Employment Insurance (EI).
“EI was such a vital part of Canada’s economic foundation,” Glenn explains. “When people lost their jobs, they needed to get their claims processed, and my job was to make sure that happened efficiently.”
Despite those efforts, Glenn changed his life when he accepted an early exit package from the government. He traded positions at the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy (OSB), even with zero knowledge about Bankruptcy at the time. He smiles, remembering: “They said, ‘That’s okay. We’ll train you.’ And they did.”
He went on to complete the intensive training, exams, and interviews required to become a Licensed Insolvency Trustee. And once he stepped into the role, he knew he’d found his calling.
“Thank You”—Two Words That Matter Most
For Glenn, the reward isn’t in titles, accolades, or the work of financial counselling. It’s in the quiet gratitude of someone finally free from the weight of debt.
“When someone says, ‘You’ve taken the piano off my back,’ it reminds me why I do this work,” he shares. “It’s not just about numbers—it’s about helping someone sleep better at night.”
His empathy comes through in every consultation. Whether a client is overwhelmed, tearful, or unsure of what to do next, Glenn meets them with compassion, patience, and a clear plan.
A Unique Perspective on Debt Best Practices
Before becoming a trustee himself, Glenn spent years reviewing the practices of other trustees across Canada. At the OSB, he managed field visits and compliance audits, experiences that gave him firsthand insight into what worked and what didn’t.
“I had a front-row seat to the best and worst of the industry,” he says. “And I made a decision early on to take the best practices I saw and make them part of how I operate.”
That foundation helped shape Glenn’s balanced, client-focused approach. He works hard to uphold the letter—and the spirit—of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, using both legal knowledge and common sense to guide every decision.
Why People Seek Debt Relief
So why do people reach out to someone like Glenn?
“Job loss is one of the biggest reasons,” he says. “You go from earning $100,000 a year to receiving $2,300 a month on EI. That’s a massive financial shift. People often rely on credit to fill the gap, but that can only go on so long before it becomes unsustainable.”
Divorce is another common trigger, as the same income level must now support two households. The math often doesn’t work, and debt can quickly spiral.
Even everyday life—rising costs, illness, or an unexpected expense—can push someone over the edge, especially if they’re already living paycheque to paycheque.
The First Conversation With Your Licensed Insolvency Trustee
When someone finally makes the call, they’re often scared, ashamed, or emotionally exhausted. Glenn’s first goal is to ease that fear.
“We’re not here to judge,” he says. “We’ve all made financial mistakes, including me. What matters is how we move forward.”
Glenn takes time to listen, gather background information, and understand the full picture. That includes the debts, income, assets, and most importantly, the person behind the numbers. From there, he lays out options in simple terms, and always with an emphasis on patience and good decision-making.
“This is serious,” Glenn advises. “Talk to your family. Ask questions. Sleep on it. You deserve the time to choose what’s right for you.”
Dispelling the Biggest Bankruptcy Myth
One of the most common fears Glenn hears is: “I’ll lose everything if I go Bankrupt.”
“That’s simply not true,” he reassures. “In Alberta, the law protects essential assets like clothing, household items, and even RRSPs.”
Think of a $100,000 retirement portfolio drained away by credit card debt. It’s a story Glenn sees often.
“It breaks my heart when seniors come to me at 68 with nothing left. They spent their retirement savings trying to stay afloat. I wish they’d called me sooner.”
Even your home may be protected up to a certain equity threshold. And if you owe more than what your house is worth, a Consumer Proposal might allow you to keep it while repaying a portion of your debt over time.
How the Process Works
So what happens if you call Glenn in need of help?
Step 1: A free consultation: First, Glenn listens, asks questions, and provides an overview of your options.
Step 2: A personalized assessment: Glenn next looks at your full financial picture and helps decide if Bankruptcy, a Consumer Proposal, or another debt help solution is best for you.
Step 3: Time to decide: You’re not rushed. There’s no pressure. Just support.
“There’s no such thing as a stupid question,” Glenn emphasizes. “And we don’t make decisions for you. We give you the information so you can make an informed choice.”
Navigating the Grey Areas With Integrity
Not all situations are black and white. Sometimes, someone may ask how to hide assets or avoid obligations, and Glenn sees that as a red flag.
“We’re here to play by the rules,” he explains. “Trustees are like referees. We want to help the debtor, but we also need to respect the creditors.”
Thankfully, most people who seek help genuinely want to repay what they owe. That’s why Consumer Proposals—where you repay part of what you owe over time—are becoming more common than full Bankruptcies.
New Technology, Same Personal Touch
Glenn joined Allan Marshall & Associates just as the industry adapted to pandemic-era technology. Gone are the days when every client meeting occurs in-person. Today, virtual consultations allow clients to get help from anywhere.
Even for someone who once described himself as “the second worst person with technology,” Glenn embraced the change and now encourages clients to do the same.
“If I can learn video conferencing, anyone can,” he laughs.
And what drew him to the firm?
“It’s the values,” he says. “This company believes in doing what’s right for the client. Sometimes that means telling someone, ‘You don’t need us. Here’s how you can fix this on your own.’ That kind of honesty builds trust, which is the foundation of everything we do.”
Advice for Anyone Feeling Ashamed
If you struggle with debt and feel embarrassed or overwhelmed, Glenn has a message for you:
“We all make mistakes. That’s why pencils have erasers. Don’t let shame keep you stuck. You are not alone.”
He’s right. More than 100,000 Canadians filed for Bankruptcy or submitted a Consumer Proposal last year. Financial setbacks are more common than you might think, and there is a path forward to financial literacy.
A Fresh Start Is Possible
Debt can feel like a hopeless situation, but it is not a life sentence. With the right support, you can rebuild your finances, your confidence, and your future.
“Let’s not focus on the past,” Glenn says gently. “Let’s focus on the future. That’s what the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act is all about—giving honest people a fresh start. And that’s what I love doing for people.”
Listen to Glenn Steiner’s Licensed Insolvency Trustee Journey
Read the Transcript
Wayne Kelly: I’d like to start off with you just telling us about your career and how you became a bankruptcy trustee.
Glenn: Okay. Well, I used to be a lifelong career public servant for the Government of Canada. I used to be an EI expert, and in those days, I would fly throughout Canada training new recruits. Eventually, I became a national trainer with EI and then started teaching supervisors what to look for. Of course, EI was a very strong backbone of the Canadian economy. When people lose their jobs, they need to get their claims processed, and I would give them tips on how to get those done. Anyway, I worked myself up to be a manager within the federal government in EI. And then with one swoop of the pen, Prime Minister Mulroney decided to do some government restructuring. They had a program where you could leave the public service and be paid out six months’ pay.
Or if you wanted to stay, you could trade with somebody who did want to leave. And that’s exactly what I did. I traded with somebody that wanted to leave the government, and they happened to work for the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy. So they interviewed me, and I said, “I know absolutely nothing about bankruptcy.” And they said, “That’s okay. We’ll train you.” So they sent me on training, and as they say, the rest is history. I fell in love with bankruptcy, took all the courses, went through two three-day hour exams. I went through a two-hour firing squad where they ask you questions, and I became a Licensed Insolvency Trustee.
Wayne Kelly: Wow. What a story. That’s amazing. And what is it about helping people? Is that the basis of it?
Glenn: Well, I love helping people, and for me, a reward is when somebody says, “Thank you, thank you, thank you. You’ve taken the piano off my back.” That just makes me feel very wanted, and I’m very appreciative when people say thank you.
It really made a difference in my life.
Wayne Kelly: So, working for the government and working for the Superintendent of Bankruptcy, how did that shape how you do things now?
Glenn: Well, you know, I had a very great luxury when I worked for the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy. When I first started, I was a Senior Bankruptcy Officer, Senior Bankruptcy Analyst. One of the things that we were charged with was the responsibility of making sure that trustees complied with the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, and that involved field visits, office audits, etc. One of the things that I had the luxury of, that other trustees who didn’t work for the Superintendent of Bankruptcy didn’t have, was I saw a lot of different trustee practices, and I always took the positive from those and I built my kind of thinking around best practices. And so I think that’s why we’re fairly successful. You always want to take a page out of somebody else’s book if it’s better than yours and replace it with that page. And that’s what I do.
I try to be the best trustee I can.
Wayne Kelly: Being that you got to see so many bankruptcy trustees in action, I think that would really round you off to what works and what doesn’t work. But…
Glenn: Exactly.
Wayne Kelly: Being that it’s all regulated through the federal government, did it make a big difference to see how other people ran their trustee businesses?
Glenn: Well, let me just tell you, I saw a lot of great trustee work, and I saw some bad trustee work. At the end of the day, the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act is, although everybody thinks it’s exactly black and white, it sometimes is grey. And so the courts have kind of established what are good practices and what are not. At the end of the day, I avoid bad practices where I didn’t think it was a good road to go down. I always wanted to go down the road that complied with the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, and I would use case law to back those decisions up.
Wayne Kelly: What are the most common reasons why Albertans come to you for help?
Glenn: Well, traditionally, a lot of times people lose their jobs. And when you lose your job, if you’re making $100,000 a year, you were able to service your debt, and you were just chipping away slowly but surely. Well, now, all of a sudden, you lose your job, and now you have to go on EI, and you’re getting $2,300 a month or whatever the figure is. That’s a significant impact to your cash flow. And so what people will often do is say, “Well, I’ll live on credit for a little while,” but that only lasts so long, and then they realize they’ve maxed out on their credit. They’ve got to do something. They’re still on EI. They can’t find a job. So they’ll call us. Another common reason is you have a divorce, and so the lawyers get a bunch of money, and the two individuals that are separating—often what happens is they both may need to do a bankruptcy or a consumer proposal because they don’t have the cash flow.
There’s two separate households instead of one household with two incomes. So the math doesn’t work, and often we’ll have people who go through separations come to us looking for help.
Wayne Kelly: I find that a lot of Canadians are living, you know, if they have an extra $100, they pretty much can buy things on credit. And we’re seeing that more people buy things on credit than ever before. And there really is no wiggle room. So when a job loss happens, unfortunately, divorce happens regularly or an illness happens—
Glenn: Yeah.
Wayne Kelly: —people don’t know what to do. They’re kind of surprised by it, even though we shouldn’t be. We should be a little more prepared. But that’s not reality, is it?
Glenn: No, it isn’t. And that’s something that happens every day, unfortunately, in Canada.
Wayne Kelly: When you talk to these people, when you talk to somebody who’s in trouble like that, how does that conversation start?
Glenn: Well, the first thing that I try to do is put their mind at ease.
I let them know that we’re here to help. We’re not here to cry over spilled milk. Um, you know, we’ve all made stupid financial decisions in our life—me included—and, you know, we learn from those experiences. And what I try to tell them is, you’re not alone. Over 100,000 Canadians filed bankruptcies and proposals last year. Things happen in our life, and at the end of the day, we need to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and move on. And I’m there to help them and hold their hand to get through the process so I can get them debt-free and have a better quality of life.
Wayne Kelly: You must see a real change in people when they find out what the options are in this world where they’re thinking there’s no way out. I don’t know what I’m going to do. Can you walk us through what that change looks like when they finally meet you and talk with you and find out that there are options?
Glenn: Well, it is very rewarding when I sit down.
I’ll remember a case just not that long ago where the lady thought she was down and out. When I first talked to her on the phone, she probably cried the first 10 minutes through the conversation, and she said, “I’d really like to meet you.” So I met her in our Edmonton downtown office. And when I sat down with her, I said, “Okay, tell me what’s going on.” Of course, she cried some more and got that emotion out. And then I said, “Okay, now I need to know who you owe money to. What are your circumstances?” And we went through things. And when we were all done, I said, “We are going to fix this for you.” And she just burst into tears. She was so happy. She wanted to hug me. It was wonderful. And that’s why I love the job that I do—because I like helping people.
Wayne Kelly: Somebody makes the phone call to your office. What is the step-by-step process that they go through in their initial consultation?
Glenn: Well, essentially, if they phone our office at our toll-free number, the 1-888-837-1800, they’ll get the reception. The reception will, you know, “How can we help you?” And, you know, the typical response is, “Well, I think I’m in deep trouble and I don’t know what to do.” Well, okay. Well, we have free consultations in our firm, and right now we have Glenn Steiner that’s available to talk to you. Would you like me to connect them? If I’m available, that’s what they do. If I’m not available, they’ll take their name and phone number and they’ll say, “Glenn Steiner will call you by phone at the number that you gave us. He will call you at 2 o’clock tomorrow.” Glenn phones them, and I basically get some background information. Who do you owe money to? What do you do for work? What are your assets? And we start to have a dialogue about their situation. People want to be heard. And, you know, my father taught me one great lesson.
You have two ears and one mouth. Use them proportionally. Listen to people. It’s very important that we understand what they’re going through and show some empathy and show them that we can fix their problem.
Wayne Kelly: And they don’t have to make a decision immediately. There’s—
Glenn: Absolutely.
Wayne Kelly: Nothing—
Glenn: Not. That’s a very good point, Wayne. One of the things that I tell people is we’re not like these hard, high-pressure car salesmen where they want to sell you the car that day and get a written offer. I say to people, this is serious business. You need to think this through. You need to process it. Maybe you want to talk to your family. Talk to friends. Do you know anybody that’s gone through this process? Ask questions. I always have one rule. And the rule is there’s no such thing as a stupid question.
Wayne Kelly: Glenn, what do you think is the biggest, uh, misconception people have when it comes to bankruptcies or consumer proposals?
Glenn: Well, it’s a great question because I’ve had so many people say, “I need to do bankruptcy, and I know I’m going to lose everything.”
And that is far from the truth. The myth about if you do a bankruptcy, you lose everything is not true. In the province of Alberta, there’s the Civil Enforcement Act, and it states that you are allowed to keep certain things, even if you do a bankruptcy. You’re allowed to keep your clothing to a value of $4,000 with your personal effects. You’re allowed to keep your household furniture to a value of $4,000. If you have RRSPs, even if you have $100,000 of RRSPs, those are sacred. The Government of Canada wants Canadians to save for their retirement. And I’ve seen so many people, they deplete their RRSP to pay the debt. And it breaks my heart to hear that. I wish they would have called me sooner because I could have told them, “Save that money for retirement because that is important.” It breaks my heart when I see seniors come through our doors. They’re 68 years old, and all they’re living on is 2,800 bucks because they blew all of their retirement plan on paying down debt, which then they ended up getting back into.
So, it’s very unfortunate to see those types of things.
Wayne Kelly: That’s very important. That’s one thing that a lot of clients say: “I wish I’d come and talked to you sooner.”
Glenn: I hear that so often. And the other example I neglected to mention about the exemptions is in Alberta—people think that they’re going to lose their house, and that’s not necessarily true. The law says that they can shelter $40,000 of equity in their principal residence. So, if you have a house that’s worth $400,000 and you have a $360,000 mortgage, as long as you keep making your mortgage payments, the creditors cannot force the sale of your house, and you can keep the house. Now, I’m very compassionate. I’m very empathetic. I know that families don’t want to uproot their children and have to go to a different school. So, let’s suppose they have $20,000 excess equity. They have $60,000 of equity. They’re only allowed to shelter 40. Now, if they both are doing a bankruptcy or a proposal, they can only shelter $20,000 each. And they would also have to pay—if they were doing a bankruptcy—they’d have to pay the $10,000 excess equity that they had after their exemption into the trustee’s trust account to pay the creditors.
If they’re doing a proposal, we usually build into the proposal that the creditors would have got $10,000 equity in the house. And so the debtor might say, “Well, I want to make sure that that gets looked after, and I’m going to pay more than what they would get in a bankruptcy.” So we usually work it so that it’s a fair and reasonable situation for the debtor and it’s a fair and reasonable situation for the creditors.
Wayne Kelly: Glenn, have you noticed any difference—uh, change—shift in clients looking for insolvency these days?
Glenn: Well, it’s interesting you ask that. It’s a sad situation, but in Alberta, I have noticed a lot more seniors, like 60 and above, where they have worked all their life.
They’ve depleted all their assets. They’ve been kind of living on credit. And, you know, here they come through our doors. They have $1,400 each in income. How do you live in Alberta for $2,800? It’s very difficult. And they were living on credit, and now they need to come and ask for our help. And one of the biggest things is that they need to learn how to budget their money. They may have worked great jobs, but they spent it as they made it. And again, I reiterate to anybody who’s listening out there: please be disciplined to set money aside for your retirement because it’s so important. It breaks my heart when I see couples that are 60 and over come in and they have absolutely no assets. They’ve spent their money. Yes, they’ve had a good life, but you also want to continue that good life into your senior years. And if you don’t have money, now you have to go through a bankruptcy as a senior. And that’s never fun for anyone.
Wayne Kelly: How do you determine whether a bankruptcy or a consumer proposal or maybe another option is best for a client?
Glenn: Well, that’s a great question, and one of the things, as I said earlier in my consultation phase, I get some facts and I say to them, “Okay, what do you have for assets? What do you have for liabilities? What is your income?” So, I just had a call yesterday, for example, and the gentleman had a paid-for house worth $600,000 in Calgary, Alberta, and he had about $100,000 of debt. Well, I said to him, “Look, you really don’t need to do a bankruptcy. All you really need to do is go to your banker, ask for a mortgage or a secured line of credit, get the $100,000, and pay off your creditors. Then you don’t even need me.” However, in this guy’s case, he had been laid off and he’d been unemployed for three years, and he literally lived off his savings for the last three years with no income. Now he just turned 65. He’s got his Canada Pension and OAS, but he only makes 1,400 bucks a month. How can he afford to get a mortgage? And so what I said to him is, if the bank won’t give you money, see if family members would lend you money. They could put a mortgage on your house and then you pay them back eventually or when you pass away or you’re ready to move into a retirement home, you sell the house and pay them back.
But if that doesn’t work, we can do a consumer proposal. We can put you into a small payment plan for a hundred bucks a month, for example. And you know that eventually you’re going to not want to stay in your house forever and shovel snow and cut grass. So, we give you a five-year window to say, “We’ll pay a small payment every month for five years.” And then, after the end of the five years, in the 60th month, you’re going to either refinance your house to pay out the creditors, or you’re going to sell the house to pay out the creditors. So, I’m very fortunate in the fact that, again going back to my OSB days, I saw a lot of different trustee creative ways to make a proposal work. And I’ve been very good at making sure that anybody that needs our help—if I can help them—I will.
Wayne Kelly: Are there any red flags that you notice when you talk to people that people need to be aware of—saying that they are in financial trouble?
Glenn: Well, a red flag for me is they say, “Uh, how do I get out of not paying this debt? I’ve got $40,000 in a tax-free savings account. Can I keep that in a bankruptcy?” And I’ll say, “Well, unfortunately, that’s not an exempt asset. If that was in RRSPs, you could keep it.” “Well, what do I do? Do I transfer to my daughter tomorrow?” Those are red flags for me. I want people to play by the rules. In a way, trustees are like a referee. We know that we have to be respectful of the debtor’s issues, but we also want to make sure that the creditors are getting their fair return. They were the ones that lent the money to the debtors. And for the most part, I have to say that people who come to see me, they truly don’t want to mess up the creditors. They want to pay something. And often that’s why we have so many proposals in Canada now—because people do want to pay. They know they borrowed the money and they want to pay it back.
Wayne Kelly: How has your role changed since joining Allen—how has your role changed since joining Allen Marshall and Associates?
Glenn: Well, one of the things that is interesting—we all know how COVID affected our lives and how it destroyed so many businesses: small barber shops, salons, massage… I mean, the list goes on. And one of the things that happened pre-COVID was that, as a Licensed Insolvency Trustee, I had to meet people in person. It was the law. They had to come to our office. I would physically have to explain everything in person and in black and white. And then when COVID hit, the Superintendent of Bankruptcy—who regulates our industry—had to change the rules to allow video and telephone calls to happen. And so the world has changed, and I joined Allen Marshall about the time where we had just come out of COVID. And so here I am, a senior, and I had to learn technology all over again.
I’m probably the second world’s worst person when it comes to technology, but I had to learn how to do video chatting and all that kind of stuff. And now I’ve kind of got it mastered. So if you’re afraid about video conferencing—trust me—I’m the second world’s worst person. But I learned it. You can learn it too. And that’s the biggest change for me—learning the new technology. And of course, Allen Marshall and Associates—every trustee has different philosophies. I am very honored to work for such a great company. This company says do what’s right for the client, not what’s right for us. We could try to hose them and convince them to come into a proposal, but if they don’t need it, why would we want to do that? We get more credibility by saying to people, “You really don’t need our help. Just do this on your own, and here are the steps to do it.” And then they say to their neighbor who’s having financial difficulty, “Go to this guy because he’s very honest and he’s full of integrity and he’ll steer you in the right direction.”
It’s not about the almighty dollar. It’s about what’s best for the client. And we have great leadership in our corporation, and I’m very honored to be a part of that.
Wayne Kelly: What advice do you give someone who is ashamed about making this call? They’re ashamed that they’re in debt.
Glenn: You know what? One of the things that I say to people is: Look, we all make mistakes. That’s why the Good Lord put an eraser at the end of a pencil. We all make mistakes. Don’t beat yourself up. It will consume you. And I find that when people have significant stress, it starts to affect their health. We are here to help. We are here to fix your debt problems. And don’t be ashamed, because you’re not the only one who’s in the same boat. Over 100,000 Canadians have done this in the last year. What we need to do is focus on your future.
Let’s not worry about the past. Focus on the future. Let’s give you a fresh start. And that’s what the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act is all about—giving an honest but unfortunate debtor a fresh start. And that’s what I love doing for people.
