Payday Loan Cost Calculator: What a Short-Term Advance Costs
This calculator works out what a short-term advance costs when you enter the amount advanced, the charge per $100 borrowed and the days until repayment. It returns a cost and a total to repay — not a rate quote, an offer or a credit decision.
$70.00 to borrow $500.00 for 14 days
The annualised figure is shown because a 14-day charge looks small and compares badly with an annual rate. Where a province operates a licensed payday regime, federal regulations cap the cost of borrowing at $14 per $100 advanced and some provinces set a lower cap; Quebec does not license payday lending. Confirm the cap that applies to you with the regulator.
What the arithmetic does
The calculator turns a quoted charge into a total. It divides the amount advanced by 100 to count how many $100 units you are borrowing, multiplies that count by the charge per $100, and adds the result back to the amount advanced. In words: cost of borrowing = (amount advanced ÷ 100) × charge per $100, and total to repay = amount advanced + cost of borrowing. The first figure is the price of the advance; the second is what you would hand back on the repayment date if nothing else changed between today and then.
The calculator will also relate the cost of borrowing to the number of days you entered, which describes how long you are carrying the balance. That derived figure comes from your own inputs. It is not a rate published by any lender, and it is not comparable to an annual interest rate on a different kind of product.
The three inputs, one at a time
Amount advanced
This is the principal — the figure on the agreement before any charge is applied, not the amount you happen to need. A payday loan is generally up to $1,500 for a term of 62 days or less, so the arithmetic here is aimed at small, short balances. If the amount you are considering sits well above that range, you are looking at a different product with different rules.
Charge per $100 borrowed
This is the price of the advance expressed in the unit the short-term market uses. 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, as set out in the Payday Lending Regulations. Some provinces set a cap lower than that, and the lower cap applies. Enter the number that appears in the disclosure you were given, not a number you found on a web page. If you do not have a figure in writing, you cannot complete this calculation honestly — start with the provincial and territorial regulator list published by the FCAC and find out what your province permits.
Days until repayment
The term, usually tied to a pay date. The formula above does not use days, because a charge-per-$100 model is flat rather than charged per day. The input matters for two reasons: term length is part of what defines this type of product, and the number of days tells you how long you have to have the full balance ready.
What the result assumes — and what it leaves out
Everything below is an assumption the arithmetic rests on. If any one of them is false in your situation, the number on screen is not the number you will pay.
- The charge per $100 you entered is the entire cost of borrowing, with nothing added on top.
- You repay the full amount on the exact date you entered, in a single payment.
- No late fee, missed-payment charge, returned-payment fee, rollover, renewal or extension applies.
- There is one advance, not a series of them.
- The charge stays the same between the day you borrow and the day you repay.
- The lender is licensed to lend in your province and the cap that governs the agreement is the one you typed.
- The calculator does not verify any of the above, and does not check whether the charge you entered is lawful where you live.
Two things the result definitely does not tell you. It does not tell you whether you will be approved: loanmoose.ca is not a lender, does not make loans, does not set rates and does not make credit decisions. And it does not compare a short-term advance against any other way of covering the same need. A comparison means lining up the total cost of each option over the same number of days, which is a separate calculation with its own assumptions.
Why one cap figure is not the whole map
Lending in Canada is licensed provincially, so the regulator and the rules differ by province and territory. Where a province operates a licensed payday lending regime, the federal cap of $14 per $100 advanced applies; where a province sets a lower cap, the lower cap governs. Quebec does not license payday lending, which effectively prohibits the model there. Outside that regime, the Criminal Code criminal rate of interest of 35% per year under section 347 is the relevant ceiling. None of that answers what your province allows for your agreement — the regulator for your province does, and the FCAC's material on payday loans explains how that split works.
Frequently asked questions
Does the calculator tell me whether I will be approved?
No. It performs arithmetic on three numbers you type in and nothing else. It does not see your income, your credit file, your province's licensing rules or the lender's underwriting criteria, and it cannot predict an outcome. loanmoose.ca is not a lender and does not make credit decisions. Any actual decision belongs to the licensed lender you apply to, under the rules of your province.
Where do I get the charge per $100 that the calculator asks for?
From the disclosure the lender gives you before you sign, or from the posted terms of the agreement you are considering. The maximum permitted depends on where you live: where a province operates a licensed payday lending regime, the federal cap is $14 per $100 advanced, and a province that sets a lower cap overrides it. If no written figure exists yet, you are estimating, and the result is only as good as that estimate.
Why does the calculator ask for days until repayment if the formula ignores it?
Because a charge-per-$100 model is flat: the cost does not grow with each additional day the way per-diem interest does. The days input still matters for context. Term length is part of what defines this type of product, generally up to $1,500 for 62 days or less, and it tells you how long you have to have the full balance ready to repay.
What happens if I cannot repay on the date I entered?
The calculator cannot model it, because the answer depends on the agreement you signed and the rules of your province. What the arithmetic leaves out is any late charge, returned-payment fee, rollover or extension, each of which changes the total. Those are set by the contract and constrained by provincial licensing rules, not by this tool, so the figure on screen stops being reliable the moment a payment is missed.
Does the calculator check whether the charge I entered is legal in my province?
No. It accepts whatever number you type and multiplies it. Legality is decided elsewhere: by whether your province operates a licensed payday lending regime, by the federal cap in the Payday Lending Regulations where it does, and by any lower provincial cap that applies. Quebec does not license the model at all. Check the regulator for your province before treating any charge as permitted.
Is a short-term advance cheaper than my other options?
That depends entirely on your circumstances, and this calculator does not answer it. To compare fairly you would need the total cost of each alternative measured over the same number of days, including any fees each one carries. Products differ in term, in how cost accrues and in who qualifies. There is no universal cheapest option, and the right comparison depends on how quickly you can repay and what you already have access to.
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