What Can a Debt Collection Agency Do in Each Province

By Julien Brault, founder of MooseMoney.

A debt collection agency in Canada can contact you by phone or mail to request payment on an outstanding debt, but it cannot threaten you with jail, use abusive language, or discuss your debt with your friends and family. The specific rules governing what collectors can and cannot do vary by province, covering everything from when they can call to how long they have to pursue legal action. Most Canadians never look into these protections, which gives aggressive agencies room to push boundaries.

"While the regulations vary province to province, there is not much a debt collector can do, other than contact you. But people do not take the time to investigate their rights in dealing with debt collection agencies," observes Jeremy Kroll, Licensed Insolvency Trustee and Partner at Baigel Corp.

Across every province and territory, debt collectors are generally permitted to call you Monday through Saturday between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m., and on Sundays between 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. Quebec is an exception, where collectors are not legally permitted to call on Sundays at all. No province allows collection calls on statutory holidays. In Ontario, Nova Scotia, and Alberta, a collection agency cannot contact you more than three times within a seven-day period without your consent. Manitoba does not set a specific number but prohibits harassment.

A collector can contact your employer, neighbours, or relatives solely to obtain your phone number or address. The collector cannot reveal any details about your debt during those calls. The only exception applies when someone has co-signed or guaranteed your loan, in which case the agency may discuss the debt with that person.

What Collectors Cannot Legally Do

No collection agency in Canada can charge you fees beyond what your original credit agreement allows, apart from court-awarded legal fees and non-sufficient-funds charges on bounced payments. Collectors cannot raise the interest rate above what your original creditor's contract specified. They cannot use threatening, profane, or intimidating language, and they cannot misrepresent the situation or fabricate legal references to scare you into paying. A common tactic involves threatening jail time for unpaid debts, which is not legally possible in Canada. If you experience any of these behaviours, you can file a complaint with your provincial consumer protection office or, if the debt originated from a federally regulated institution, with the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada.

Collectors also cannot call your cell phone unless you provided that number as a contact method. You have the right to ask a collection agency to stop using any form of communication that costs you money, and the agency must reimburse you for any charges you incurred from those contacts.

You can take practical steps to control how a collector communicates with you. Jeremy Kroll, Licensed Insolvency Trustee and Partner at Baigel Corp, suggests a direct approach for Ontario residents. "If a collection agency contacts you in Ontario, say: 'My mailing address is X. You can only write to me there and do not send me emails. I will correspond with you at that address.' Then, you have to live up to your end of the bargain and actually correspond with them," he advises. This strategy effectively limits intrusive calls while keeping the lines of communication open.

Statute of Limitations and Legal Action by Province

One of the most important protections for debtors is the statute of limitations, which dictates how long a creditor or collection agency has to pursue legal action against you. Once this period expires, a collector can still call you, but any threat of a lawsuit becomes unenforceable. The clock typically starts from the date of your last activity on the account.

Ontario, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia all have a two-year limitation period. Quebec sets its limit at three years. Prince Edward Island, Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut each allow six years. Certain debts, including unpaid taxes and student loans, may be excluded from these timelines.

A collection agency can take you to court within the limitation period if the original creditor had that right. If the agency wins a judgement, the court may grant permission to garnish your wages or freeze your bank account. However, pursuing legal action costs the agency money, so most will not sue for debts under roughly $3,000 or debts that have passed the limitation period. Pension income is generally protected from garnishment in most provinces, with the exception of debts owed to the Canada Revenue Agency.

A debt that goes to collections will appear on your credit report and hurt your credit score. That negative record remains for six years from the date of your last payment. Paying the debt in full or negotiating a settlement will update the record to "paid" or "settled," but the history does not disappear immediately.

How to Respond When a Collector Contacts You

When a debt collector first reaches out, ask for the agent's name, the agency they represent, the original creditor, the amount owed, and when the debt originated. Write everything down. Tell them you will call back after verifying the information against your own records and bank statements. If the debt is not yours, inform the collector, contact the original creditor to correct the error, and file a dispute with Equifax and TransUnion if the debt appears in their credit reports.

If the debt is valid and you can pay the full amount, doing so resolves the matter. Always get a receipt for every payment, never send cash, and make payments only to the authorized collection agency rather than the original creditor. If you cannot pay in full, explain your situation and propose a monthly payment plan if you can afford to do so. Get any agreement in writing before you send money, and confirm that the agency has authorization from the original creditor to accept a settlement if one is offered.