What are you about to say yes to? › Money
Money
Investing, borrowing and debt help
Before you invest, take a loan or pay for help with debt: what the official pages say, in pictures.
- An investment
- A loan or a mortgage
- Debt help
- A crypto platform
7 official pages, each read 6 November 2026
- Where does money go?$351Mlost to investment fraud in 2025, the most of any fraud
- Is it a scam?6signs the Anti-Fraud Centre lists
- Registered?Freesearches for advisers, lenders and trustees
- A payday loan?$14per $100 at most in Ontario
- Help with debt?LITonly licensed trustees file proposals
Where does money go?
The six frauds that cost Canadians the most in 2025, as reported to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (over $704 million in all):
Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre: Top 10 frauds of 2025 (25 February 2026). Read 6 November 2026.
Is it a scam?
The Anti-Fraud Centre's signs of an investment scam:
- An offer nobody asked for
- Higher-than-normal returns
- A fake crypto website
- Pressure to decide
- Payment asked in crypto
- A fee to get lost money back
What the Anti-Fraud Centre lists to do
- Ask your provincial securities regulator
- Find the website and number yourself
- No government asks for crypto
The Anti-Fraud Centre's own words
- “Unsolicited investment opportunities (even from friends and family)”
- “Higher-than-normal returns”
- “Fake cryptocurrency websites”
- “High pressure tactics”
- “Requests for cryptocurrency payments”
- “there is a fee for their services”
- “Check the legitimacy of the investment with your provincial/territorial securities regulators.”
- “Never rely on the website and phone number included in the unsolicited materials provided to you.”
- “No government agencies will ever request payment in the form of cryptocurrencies.”
Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre: Investment scams (16 January 2026). Read 6 November 2026.
Registered?
Free searches that show who may sell, lend or help:
- CanadaNational Registration SearchBritish Columbia Securities Commission
In general, anyone offering investment advice, selling securities, trading derivatives or managing an investment fund must be registered, unless they have an exemption.
- British ColumbiaThe Disciplined ListBritish Columbia Securities Commission
People and firms banned from doing business in BC don't appear on the registration search; they are on this list.
- OntarioLicence searchGovernment of Ontario
Payday lenders and loan brokers, collection agencies, debt settlement services, consumer reporting agencies and bailiffs.
Updated monthly - CanadaLicensed Insolvency TrusteesOffice of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy
The Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy's directory of trustees and their firms.
British Columbia Securities Commission: Checking registration · Government of Ontario: Search for a business licence, registration or appointment (10 July 2025) · Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy: Need help with your debt? (9 November 2022). Read 6 November 2026.
A payday loan?Ontario
- The cost
$14per $100
The most a payday loan may cost.
Rollover loans are not allowed
- Changing your mind
2business days
to cancel, without penalty or a reason.
- The size
50%of net income
the most one loan may be.
Three loans in 63 days: the lender must offer an extended payment plan
- A bounced payment
$20
the most a lender may charge for a dishonoured payment.
- The Province's page: don't borrow unless you see an Ontario licence number.
Government of Ontario: Payday loans: your rights (31 December 2024). Read 6 November 2026.
What does it cost in a year?
The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada's example, as a yearly rate:
- The agency lists other ways: more time to pay bills, a pay advance from an employer, a loan or line of credit from your financial institution, overdraft protection.
Financial Consumer Agency of Canada: Payday loans (14 October 2025). Read 6 November 2026.
Help with debt?
- Some unlicensed advisers “charge hundreds or even thousands of dollars for services they are not licensed to provide.”
- First consultations with a trustee may be free.
Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy: Need help with your debt? (9 November 2022). Read 6 November 2026.
More kinds of offers
The official pages
- Top 10 frauds of 2025Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre · page dated 25 February 2026
Reports and losses in 2025: over $704 million in all, $351 million to investment fraud.
- Investment scamsCanadian Anti-Fraud Centre · page dated 16 January 2026
The signs of an investment scam and what to do.
- Checking registrationBritish Columbia Securities Commission
Who must be registered, the National Registration Search and the Disciplined List.
- Search for a business licence, registration or appointmentGovernment of Ontario · page dated 10 July 2025
Licensed payday lenders and loan brokers, collection agencies and others, updated monthly.
- Payday loans: your rightsGovernment of Ontario · page dated 31 December 2024
Ontario's limits: $14 per $100, 2 business days to cancel, 50% of net income, the $20 fee, no rollovers.
- Payday loansFinancial Consumer Agency of Canada · page dated 14 October 2025
What a payday loan costs as a yearly rate, the 35% criminal rate and other ways to borrow.
- Need help with your debt?Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy · page dated 9 November 2022
Only Licensed Insolvency Trustees file proposals and bankruptcies; the trustees' directory.
Each page read 6 November 2026. Free to check yourself; the link opens the official page. More kinds of offers: What are you about to say yes to?
Public-record information, not legal advice. Each line says what the official page shows and links it; rules change, so the official page is the one to rely on. About OfferDue.