Leaving debts behind

My family and I have just moved from the UK to Canada and have left behind quite a mountain of debts to various credit card companies, banks and even an overdue VAT return. We have a UK bank account which is fine that we have been using in Canad and 1 credit card with a very low limit that has just been for securing things.

I contacted a debt management company before we left and they have adivesd that we can use them even living abroad. They advised us to contact them in a couple of months when we knew what our incomings and outgoings are.

My husband has a job and I am trying to find one that will pay reasonabley well but at the moment our money only just covers rent, food and bills plus car running costs so that hubby can get to work. He is due for a review in a couple of months but at the moment I can't see any spare cash to make debt payments.

So the questions are we anything major happen if we don't sort out the debt payment plans for say 6 months whilst we get organised. Would we not be better of declaring ourselves bankrupt in the UK as I can't see a way to pay off these debts?

thanks