How Long Can A Collection Agency Collect On A Debt In Canada (And Why)?

How Long Can A Collection Agency Collect On A Debt In Canada (And Why)?

Exact Answer: 6 Years

Debts are certainly a great pressure to anybody as time passes by. Some people would have been lucky enough to get debts without interest, but some get debts with minimal interest and others with a great level of interest, which sometimes in the end can become higher than the actual debt amount. Some people borrow money from the people they know and are acquainted with, while just borrowing loans from great banks, which is certainly the safer option.

How debts are collected can differ based on the countries and states, and also based on the banks that give the loans. It is normal to feel anxious when one has a debt piling up. When a person is in debt, they will have to deal with many sleepless nights thinking about it, loan denials, and the most distressing thing of them all is the calls a person gets from their debt collection agency or specifically from the collections department.

How Long Can A Collection Agency Collect On A Debt In Canada

How Long Can A Collection Agency Collect On A Debt In Canada?

Rules on collecting debt in CanadaTime
A collection agency collects debt in Canada for6 years
In Canada, the debt does not disappear after7 years
In some provinces of Canada, the debt collecting time is now reduced to2 years

In Canada, the debt collecting agencies work with their own rules and some people believe in the myth that, debts disappear after 7 years in Canada. It doesn’t. When a person gets a debt from a collection agency in Canada, they take a while to collect the debt. Canadians just don’t collect the debts all of a sudden. They take a while and collect the debt for about 6 years, which gives the people ample amount of time to save up and clear the entire debt amount.

Debt collection calls from the agencies can be a nuisance, the debt collectors will practically say anything to collect the debt. There are many rules a debt collection agency should follow, for example, debt collectors are prohibited from engaging in any sort of abusive practices to collect the debts. The collectors should also follow the rules about the time and place restrictions and help them validate the debt information.

Why Can A Collection Agency Collect On A Debt In Canada For That Long?

The biggest question anybody can ask is how long a collection agency can try collecting the debt in Canada. Though a debt collecting agency can try to collect a debt forever, the collecting agency will only have a certain amount of legal time to pursue the money. A time limit is set for the creditor to take any sort of legal action like filing a claim to collect the debt. According to Canadian law, the limitation period is 6 years, although, in some provinces of Canada, it’s just 2 years.

A debt collector can even pursue a 20-year-old debt, but there will be rules that should be followed. After the 6 year limit, the collecting agency can call to collect the debt, but any sort of threat they make or any legal action is powerless. A person always has the right to file a complaint with the consumer protection office, if they ever feel like the debt officers and collectors are harassing the person to collect the debts.

The statutes of limitations limit the debt collectors from suing the person after that certain time limit. After these 6 years, it is nearly impossible to collect the debt from the debtors.

Conclusion

Each province and territory of Canada has its statute of limitation, and for example, areas like Alberta, British Columbia, and New Brunswick allow the collecting agencies just about 2 years to collect the complete debt. On the other hand, Quebec offers 3 years to collect the debt, and Saskatchewan, Yukon, Manitoba, Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, and Nunavut allow 6 years to collect the debt legally.

These limitations apply to specifically unsecured debts and a person cannot use provincial limitation laws to avoid court judgments for government debts, secured debts, and nondischargeable debts, which are exactly the opposite of unsecured debts. Student loans and tax debts come under government debts, and child support, spousal support, fines, and any sort of obligation arising against fraud come under non-dischargeable debts.

References

  1. https://heinonline.org/hol-cgi-bin/get_pdf.cgi?handle=hein.journals/colaworl21&section=77
  2. https://heinonline.org/hol-cgi-bin/get_pdf.cgi?handle=hein.journals/lanow42&section=98
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