You can keep property that is encumbered (security for a loan) if the lender lets you keep it. For example, your house. You can also keep assets that are exempt by provincial, territorial or federal laws. But you can only keep the equity in the asset, and even that can have limits. Equity is the difference between the value of the asset and any charges or encumbrances against the asset (amounts owing). Example: You have a car worth $10,000. There is a secured debt against it of $6,000 (if you financed the vehicle, this could be the amount remaining). The equity in the car is $4,000. In Alberta, the exemption for a car is $5,000. You are entitled to the equity of $4,000. Unsecured creditors cannot take the car. The laws of exemption are different in each province or territory. Common examples include: food required by the bankrupt and their dependants during the next 12 months necessary clothing of the bankrupt and their dependants (but usually only up to a certain value) household furniture and appliances (but only up to a certain value) one motor vehicle (but only up to a certain value) medical and dental aids required by the bankrupt and their dependants some portion of land where the bankrupt is a bona fide farmer and whose principal source of livelihood is farming, as long as the bankrupt’s principal residence is located on that land and the land in question is part of the bankrupt’s farm equity in the bankrupt’s principal residence (but only up to a certain value). If the debtor is a co-owner of the residence, the amount of the exemption is reduced to an amount that is proportionate to the debtor’s ownership interest. personal property (such as tools, equipment, books) required by the bankrupt to earn income from their occupation (but only up to a certain value) where the bankrupt’s primary income is from farming operations, personal property required by the bankrupt for the proper and efficient conduct of the farming operations for the next 12 months For more information on exemptions in your province or territory, contact a Licensed Insolvency Trustee. Last Reviewed: October 2020