Lending in Canada is licensed provincially, so the regulator and the rules differ depending on who is lending to you. Federally regulated financial institutions' consumer complaints go to the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, while provinces license and supervise most other lenders. The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada maintains a directory of provincial and territorial regulators (Financial Consumer Agency of Canada) that points to the right office for your province or territory.
Whether you are arranging a loan for cash flow, a mortgage, or a short-term advance, the same first step applies: identify the legal entity that would be lending to you, then find out who licenses it. A search for money lenders near me tends to surface paid listings before it surfaces a licence registry, so look up the company's legal name separately and confirm it appears on the regulator's list. A brand name on a website is not the same thing as the licensed entity on the contract.
Which regulator covers which lender
Use the table below as a starting map. It tells you who to contact and what each supervisor is responsible for, before you sign anything or file a complaint.
| Type of lender or product | Who supervises it | What that means for you |
|---|---|---|
| Federally regulated financial institutions | Financial Consumer Agency of Canada | Consumer complaints escalate to the federal agency after you have used the lender's own complaint process |
| Most other lenders, including many consumer finance companies | The provincial or territorial regulator that licenses them | Licensing, disclosure and collection conduct are governed by provincial rules |
| Payday lenders where the province runs a licensed regime | Provincial regulator, with the federal Payday Lending Regulations (SOR/2024-114) setting a default cap | Cost of borrowing is capped at $14 per $100 advanced unless the province sets a lower cap |
| Payday lending in Quebec | Quebec, which does not license the model | Quebec does not license payday lending, which effectively prohibits the model there |
| Consumer proposals and bankruptcies | Licensed insolvency trustees | Only a licensed insolvency trustee can administer a consumer proposal or bankruptcy |
Two practical consequences follow from this. First, a complaint sent to the wrong regulator can stall for a long time, because the office you contacted may not have authority over the lender at all. Second, the rules you can rely on, such as disclosure requirements and limits on collection conduct, can differ from one province to the next even for the same product name.
The 35% criminal rate of interest
Section 347 of the Criminal Code (Justice Laws) sets the criminal rate of interest at 35% per year. This is a legal ceiling on the cost of credit. It is not a market rate, it is not a target, and it is not a price you should treat as normal. The provision addresses the cost of borrowing rather than a headline interest rate alone, which is why the analysis of any particular agreement is technical.
A loan priced just under that ceiling can still be extremely expensive relative to mainstream credit, and a rate below the ceiling tells you nothing about whether the loan is suitable for you. If you believe a credit agreement you have signed crosses the criminal rate, that is a legal question, and the answer depends on your individual circumstances and on regulated professional advice, not on a general guide.
It also helps to keep the ceiling in perspective against ordinary pricing. The lowest rates are only available to the most qualified applicants. Most borrowers see pricing somewhere above the best advertised figures, and the gap between an advertised rate and your own offer usually comes down to your credit history, income stability, how much you are borrowing, and whether the loan is secured.
Payday loans and the provincial cap
A payday loan is generally up to $1,500 for a term of 62 days or less. Where a province operates a licensed payday lending regime, the federal Payday Lending Regulations (SOR/2024-114) cap the cost of borrowing at $14 per $100 advanced. Some provinces set a payday cap lower than $14 per $100, and where they do, the lower cap applies. Quebec does not license payday lending, which effectively prohibits the model there.
Cost of borrowing is the number to compare, not just the fee shown in an ad. Because a payday advance is short and the charge is expressed per $100 advanced, the effective annual cost of that borrowing can be far higher than the charge looks at the counter. That is precisely why the cap is expressed per $100 advanced rather than as an annual rate, and why comparing a payday advance to a longer-term loan on the basis of the sticker fee alone is misleading.
Mortgages, home equity lines of credit and debt service limits
At federally regulated lenders, a home equity line of credit is generally limited to 65% of appraised property value, with total secured lending usually capped at 80%. Federally regulated mortgage lenders generally work to a total debt service ratio ceiling of about 44%. For an uninsured mortgage, lenders generally qualify you at the greater of the contract rate plus 2 percentage points and 5.25%, under OSFI Guideline B-20. Canadian fixed-rate mortgages are compounded semi-annually by law.
Those figures are guardrails used by federally regulated lenders, not a statement about what you personally can borrow. Your own maximum depends on your income documentation, your existing debts, the property appraisal, the lender's own risk appetite, and the province you are buying in.
Benchmarks are also not offers. The Bank of Canada publishes the policy interest rate, the prime rate, conventional mortgage rates and Government of Canada benchmark bond yields. These are benchmarks, not offers, and no lender is obliged to lend at them.
How to complain effectively
Most complaints fail for procedural reasons rather than because the borrower was wrong. Work through the sequence below and keep a written record at every stage. The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada outlines the complaints process (Financial Consumer Agency of Canada) for federally regulated institutions, including what to do when the lender's internal process does not resolve the issue.
- Put the complaint in writing to the lender and keep a copy. State the account, the product, the outcome you want, and the facts in date order.
- Ask for the lender's internal complaint reference and for confirmation of the next step in its own escalation path.
- Work through the lender's internal complaint process before contacting a regulator. Regulators generally expect that step to be complete first.
- Confirm who regulates the lender. If it is a federally regulated financial institution, the complaint goes to the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada. Otherwise, it goes to the provincial or territorial regulator that licensed it.
- Send your escalation with the documents attached: the contract, the disclosure statement, your written complaint, and the lender's reply.
- Keep a plain log of dates, names of people you spoke with, and amounts in dispute. That log is often the most persuasive document you have.
- If the underlying problem is debt you cannot repay, speak with a licensed insolvency trustee or a non-profit credit counselling service before taking on more credit.
loanmoose.ca is not a lender and does not make credit decisions. It is a matching and comparison service. That means a complaint about the terms, rates, or conduct of a loan belongs with the lender and, if needed, with the regulator that licensed that lender, not with this site.
Checks to run before you sign
- Confirm the legal name on the contract and check that name against the licence registry for your province or territory.
- Ask for the cost of borrowing in writing, including fees and charges, rather than relying on a monthly payment figure.
- Confirm which product you are actually being offered. A payday-style advance and an instalment loan are different products with different rules.
- Ask whether the rate is fixed or variable, and how interest is compounded and calculated.
- Ask what a missed payment triggers, including any penalty structure, and whether collection activity is handled internally or assigned elsewhere.
- Check the prepayment terms so you know whether paying early reduces your cost and whether any charge applies.
- Review your credit report from Equifax Canada and from TransUnion Canada before applying, so you are not surprised by what a lender sees.
- Get the key terms in writing before you authorize anything, and keep a copy of everything you sign.
No lender is obliged to approve any particular application, and no service can promise an outcome. What you can control is whether the lender is licensed, whether the cost is fully disclosed, and whether the obligation fits your budget if your income or expenses change.
Credit reports and the aftermath of insolvency
Canada has two national credit reporting bureaus: Equifax Canada and TransUnion Canada. Both can hold information about the same account, and they do not necessarily update at the same moment, so check both rather than assuming one report tells the whole story.
A consumer proposal stays on a credit report for 3 years after completion, or 6 years from filing, whichever comes first. A first bankruptcy stays on a credit report for 6 years after discharge. Those timelines describe how long the item is reported, not how long lending decisions are affected, and different lenders weigh a past insolvency differently. Only a licensed insolvency trustee can administer a consumer proposal or bankruptcy, so anyone else offering to file one for you is not able to do so.
Rebuilding after either event usually comes down to the same fundamentals: obligations you can service on time, a stable record of payments, and borrowing amounts that fit your budget rather than stretching it. Where a significant decision is involved, such as whether to file a proposal or a bankruptcy, or how to respond to a lender's claim, the right answer depends on your individual circumstances, and regulated professional advice is the appropriate source.