Updated: April 2025  |  bremo.io financial guides

Debt Collectors in Canada: Your Rights

Debt collection in Canada is regulated at the provincial level, and every province has laws that restrict what collectors can and cannot do. Understanding your rights is the first step to managing collection activity — and knowing how to stop calls that cross the line.

Who Are Debt Collectors?

A debt collector may be:

• A collection agency that has purchased your debt from the original creditor for cents on the dollar
• A collection agency that has been hired by the original creditor on a contingency basis
• The original creditor's internal collections department

When a collection agency purchases or takes on your account, they become the entity pursuing you for payment. They are subject to provincial collection agency licensing requirements and codes of conduct.

What Collectors Can and Cannot Do

What They Can Do

• Contact you by phone, letter, or email to advise you of the debt and request payment
• Contact your employer to verify your employment (but not to discuss the debt)
• Sue you in court to obtain a judgment
• Once a judgment is obtained: garnish wages, seize bank accounts, or register a lien on property

What They Cannot Do (in most provinces)

• Call you more than 3 times per week (per collector/agency)
• Call on Sundays or statutory holidays
• Call between certain hours (typically before 7 am or after 9 pm on weekdays, or before 1 pm on Sundays where calls are permitted)
• Use threatening, harassing, or abusive language
• Threaten legal action they do not intend to take
• Misrepresent the amount owed
• Discuss your debt with family members, employers, or neighbours without your consent (with limited exceptions for verifying contact information)
• Collect a debt that is past the statute of limitations (if you raise it as a defence)

Provincial Variations

Collection laws vary by province. Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, and Quebec all have detailed collection agency legislation. The rules around contact frequency, permitted hours, and prohibited conduct differ slightly. In Quebec, collectors must communicate with you in French unless you request otherwise.

Statute of Limitations on Debt

Collectors may contact you about old debts, but that does not mean they can sue you. Each province has a limitation period — after which a creditor cannot successfully obtain a judgment in court. Making a payment or acknowledging the debt in writing can restart the clock. See our full guide on debt statute of limitations in Canada by province.

How to Stop Collection Calls

You have several options to reduce or stop collection contact:

1. Written cease communication letter: In most provinces, you can send a written request to the collector asking them to stop contacting you. They can still sue you — this does not make the debt disappear — but must stop the calls.
2. File a consumer proposal: From the moment a consumer proposal is filed, all collection activity must stop under federal law. Collectors cannot legally contact you during a consumer proposal.
3. File for bankruptcy: Bankruptcy also triggers an automatic stay that stops all collections.
4. Report violations: If a collector is violating the rules, file a complaint with your provincial consumer protection authority.

What If a Collector Threatens You?

Threats of arrest, criminal charges, or imprisonment are illegal — debt in Canada is a civil matter, not criminal. Threats of violence, harassment, or false claims about what will happen if you do not pay are all violations of provincial collection laws and potentially federal criminal law.

Document the call (note the date, time, company name, collector's name, and what was said). Report it to your provincial consumer protection office.

Dealing With CRA Collections

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has collection powers that are much stronger than private collection agencies. CRA can garnish wages without a court order, seize bank accounts, and register liens on property. If you have CRA tax debt in collections, a consumer proposal or bankruptcy can stop CRA collection activity as well — both provide an automatic stay that applies to CRA.