How to Complain About a Lender in Canada

If a lender in Canada does something you think is wrong — a fee you did not expect, a payment applied to the wrong place, a collection call that crossed a line — the complaint starts with the lender, in writing. If that does not resolve it, the next stop depends on who supervises the lender. Federally regulated institutions are handled through the FCAC — complaints process. Most other lenders are licensed provincially, and each province has a consumer protection office; the FCAC — provincial and territorial regulators page lists them.

Worth saying plainly: LoanGoose is a loan matching and comparison service, not a lender. We do not make loans, set rates or make credit decisions. If your complaint is about a loan you found through us, the complaint belongs with the lender that made the loan — and, if needed, with that lender's regulator.

Step one: put it in writing, to the lender

Phone calls disappear. Written complaints leave a trail. Send your complaint through the lender's official complaint channel — usually an email address, web form or mailing address on its site — and keep a copy of everything you send.

Ask for two things: a written response, and a reference or complaint number you can quote later. Ask when you can expect an answer. If the person you reach cannot help, ask to escalate internally; most lenders have a second-level review before you take the issue outside.

Stay factual. Dates, amounts, names, what you were told and by whom. Emotion is fine in a diary; a complaint does better with a timeline.

Who regulates which lender?

This is the part people get wrong, and complaining to the wrong regulator just adds weeks. Use the table below as a rough map.

Step two: escalate to the regulator

Once the lender has had a fair chance to answer, you can bring the matter to a regulator. For federally regulated institutions, that means the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada. For almost everyone else, it means a provincial or territorial body — start with FCAC — provincial and territorial regulators, which links to each one.

Be clear about what you are asking for. A regulator can look at whether a lender followed the rules. It will not act as your lawyer, and it will not always be able to get money back into your pocket. What it can do is investigate patterns and require a lender to fix its practices, which helps the next borrower even when it does not help you.

Attach your timeline, your documents and the lender's final written answer. Regulators ask for evidence, not adjectives.

What to include in your complaint

• The lender's legal name, plus your account or loan number.
• Dates: when the loan started, when the problem happened, when you first complained.
• Amounts in dispute, and what you believe the correct figure is.
• What you were told, and by whom — note names and job titles if you have them.
• Copies of statements, contracts, emails and confirmation numbers.
• The outcome you want: a corrected balance, a refunded fee, a written explanation, or a stop to collection contact.
• The lender's final response, if you have one, and the date you received it.

If the complaint is about the cost of borrowing

Some complaints are not about service — they are about price, and price has legal limits. Under Criminal Code s. 347 — criminal rate of interest, the criminal rate of interest is 35% per year, in force since 2025-01-01 and calculated by a defined method that aggregates interest and certain charges.

Payday loans are their own world. 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 Payday Lending Regulations, SOR/2024-114 cap the cost of borrowing at $14 per $100 advanced. A province may set a lower cap, and the lower figure applies. Quebec does not license payday lending, which effectively prohibits the model there. The FCAC — payday loans page explains how the federal and provincial pieces fit together, and the Office of Consumer Affairs — payday loan companies has consumer-facing guidance on the same terrain.

If you believe a lender charged you more than the law allows, that is a complaint worth putting in writing quickly, and one where a provincial regulator or consumer protection office is usually the right door.

If the real problem is that you cannot pay

A complaint and a debt problem are different animals, and mixing them up wastes time. If you are behind on a loan and collections are calling, no regulator will make the balance vanish.

What helps is a licensed professional. Only a licensed insolvency trustee can administer a consumer proposal or bankruptcy, and trustees are regulated by the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy Canada. A trustee can walk you through the options, the costs and the consequences.

The credit-report consequences are real. A consumer proposal stays on a credit report for three years after completion, or six years from filing, whichever comes first. A first bankruptcy stays on a credit report for six years after discharge. Canada has two national credit reporting bureaus — Equifax Canada and TransUnion Canada — and a free copy of your credit report is available from each, as the FCAC — credit reports and scores page explains.

Privacy complaints go down a different road

If your complaint is that a lender shared your information without consent, kept pulling your credit file, or mishandled your data, that is a privacy issue rather than a lending issue. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada handles complaints under federal privacy law, and some provinces have their own privacy commissioner. You can generally raise it with the lender's privacy officer and with the commissioner.

Keep the paper trail, and keep going

Write down every call: date, time, who you spoke to, what was said. Save emails. Send letters by a method that proves delivery when the amount matters. Escalate in order — lender first, then regulator — because skipping straight to a regulator usually just sends you back to step one.

And if you are still shopping for a loan while all this is going on, read the terms before you sign. The FCAC — personal loans page is a reasonable primer on what a lender should be telling you up front. Knowing your rights before you need them is cheaper than learning them afterward.

LoanGoose is a loan matching and comparison service, not a lender. The lowest rates are only available to the most qualified applicants.