Common borrowing mistakes, payday and high-cost credit, insurance add-ons, scams, complaints and help when debt gets out of hand.
Most expensive personal loan outcomes follow a few patterns: borrowing from a high-cost lender when a cheaper option was available, accepting optional insurance without reading it, paying an upfront fee to someone who promised a loan, or stretching a consolidation loan so long that it costs more than the debt it replaced. These guides describe those patterns and the official places to check rules and complain.
Start with mistakes to avoid and the official sources to check. Then read about payday loans and the $14 per $100 limit, high-cost instalment lenders and provincial rules, loan insurance add-ons, advance-fee loan scams, how to complain to your lender, OBSI and the FCAC and what to do if loan payments become unmanageable.
Mistakes, Complaints and Official Sources
How advance-fee loan scams target Canadians with guaranteed-approval offers, why legitimate lenders do not ask for upfront payments, Ontario's loan broker rules and steps to take if you paid.
Mistakes, Complaints and Official Sources
How high-cost personal loans are regulated in Canada after the 35% APR cap, the provincial high-cost credit regimes in Alberta, Manitoba, BC and Quebec, and the costs to watch.
Mistakes, Complaints and Official Sources
How optional creditor insurance on Canadian personal loans works, what it costs over a loan's life, common exclusions, your right to refuse it and the questions to ask before you buy.
Mistakes, Complaints and Official Sources
How payday loans are regulated in Canada since 2025: the federal $14 per $100 maximum, Ontario's rules on cancellation, loan size and repeat borrowing, the real APR and cheaper options.
Mistakes, Complaints and Official Sources
The complaint path for personal loan problems in Canada: your lender's process, OBSI for banks since November 2024, the FCAC's role, and provincial offices for other lenders.
Mistakes, Complaints and Official Sources
The most costly personal loan mistakes in Canada, from comparing payments instead of APR to paying upfront fees, with the federal and provincial sources to check before you borrow.
Mistakes, Complaints and Official Sources
What to do in Canada when personal loan payments become unmanageable: talking to the lender, non-profit credit counselling, debt management programs and consumer proposals under the BIA.
