Installment Loans in Canada

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When a lender that advertises through our network offers this type of financing in your province, we put you in contact with that lender. Which lender depends only on your province and the type of financing you asked about.

If a lender contacts you, that lender decides whether to offer you credit and on what terms. Any application, credit check, approval, and funding happens directly between you and the lender, under the lender's own disclosures.

A $2,000 installment loan at 19.99% over 12 months has total interest of $223.12 before fees. The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada shows this case for a personal loan, which lenders may also call an installment loan. Its table lists a payment of $185 and a total of $2,220 for the same case. A longer term lowers the payment but raises the total.

After a refusal, get your credit report for free from Equifax and TransUnion and dispute anything you believe is wrong. To check it for mistakes, see how to read a credit report. If you find an error, the bureau must correct it at no charge (Financial Consumer Agency of Canada). You can see your own report online at no cost (Financial Consumer Agency of Canada). Too many credit inquiries made too close together may make lenders think you are urgently seeking credit (Financial Consumer Agency of Canada).

On an unsecured personal loan, which lenders may call an installment loan, your lender may sue you if you do not make your payments. If you are having trouble making your payments, contact your lender. These points come from the personal loans page of the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada. Work out your payments with the Loan Repayment Calculator.

Complain to your lender or, if your lender is not federally regulated, to your provincial or territorial regulator (Financial Consumer Agency of Canada: Personal loans). In Quebec, for example, the Office de la protection du consommateur takes complaints about lenders without the required permit. The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada says a bank must respond within 56 days, after which you may escalate the complaint to the Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments. The Office of Consumer Affairs lists provincial and territorial offices that assist with common consumer complaints.

Alternatives to an installment loan include saving first and, to consolidate debt, a debt consolidation loan or a personal line of credit. Before borrowing, ask whether the expense can wait until you save for it (Financial Consumer Agency of Canada: Before you borrow). Financial institutions offer both products (Financial Consumer Agency of Canada: Debt consolidation). For more, read the article on debt consolidation. If debt is hard to repay, you may want to talk to a credit counsellor (Financial Consumer Agency of Canada: Credit counsellor help).

Yes, lenders may also call a personal loan an installment loan. Lenders may also use other names, such as long-term financing plans and consumer loans (Financial Consumer Agency of Canada: Personal loans). The same kind of loan can appear under several names, depending on the lender.

You can get an installment loan from a bank, a credit union or another lender. A personal loan from a bank or a credit union may also be called an installment loan (Financial Consumer Agency of Canada: Personal loans). A Department of Finance Canada consultation paper says alternative lenders, such as lenders other than banks or credit unions, can offer longer-term, higher-value installment loans.

For an installment loan, lenders generally require proof that you have a regular income, a bank account and a permanent address. The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada lists these items for personal loans and says most lenders also run a credit check.

Most personal loans in Canada, which lenders may also call installment loans, are for up to $50,000 with terms of 6 to 60 months. These figures and the name installment loan come from the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada's page on personal loans.

Yes, most lenders run a credit check when you apply for an installment loan, and that check is a hard inquiry. The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada describes this credit check on its page about personal loans, which lenders may also call installment loans. According to the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, hard inquiries appear on your credit report and affect your credit score.

Yes, some lenders send information about your installment loan payments to the credit bureaus. Before you sign, ask your lender whether it reports your payments to the credit bureaus (Financial Consumer Agency of Canada: Personal loans). You can get your credit report online for free from Equifax and TransUnion (Financial Consumer Agency of Canada: Getting your credit report).

Yes, lenders may allow you to pay off an installment loan early without a penalty, and some may charge a fee. The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada says this about personal loans, so check your loan agreement for prepayment terms. Use the Loan Payoff Calculator to test an early payoff on your own loan.

In Canada, a payday loan costs at most 14% of the amount advanced, while an installment loan rate above 35% a year is criminal. The Criminal Interest Rate Regulations set the payday loan limit (Department of Justice Canada: Criminal Interest Rate Regulations). Section 347 of the Criminal Code defines the criminal rate (Department of Justice Canada: Criminal Code, section 347). Among other conditions, an exempt payday loan is $1,500 or less and 62 days or less (Department of Justice Canada: Criminal Code, section 347.1).

If you have trouble repaying an installment loan, you can contact your lender, a credit counsellor or, for serious financial problems, a licensed insolvency trustee. When payments become hard to make, contact your lender (Financial Consumer Agency of Canada: Personal loans). Talking to a credit counsellor leaves your credit score unchanged (Financial Consumer Agency of Canada: Credit counsellor help). If your financial problems are serious, you may consider working with a licensed insolvency trustee (Financial Consumer Agency of Canada: Credit counsellor help).