Ontario Debt Collection Rules: The CDSSA and Regulation 74 in Detail

Ontario sets exact rules for how a debt collector may contact a debtor under R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 74, the regulation made under the Collection and Debt Settlement Services Act: a written notice and a six-day wait before the first collection call, fixed calling hours, and a documented route to stop contact that a phone call alone does not satisfy.

Information last verified on 2026-08-16. This article has not yet been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

This article goes deeper than the province comparison in debt collection rules across Canada, which covers Ontario alongside Alberta, British Columbia, and Quebec at a summary level. This page focuses on Ontario alone: the exact regulation sections, the licensing and complaint process, the penalties for a violation, and the currency status of the governing statute. It does not cover other provinces, and it does not cover what happens once a creditor sues and wins a judgment; for that, see wage garnishment in Ontario.

Is a New Law About to Change Ontario Debt Collection?

The short answer is no, not for the rules a collection agency follows day to day. Ontario debt collectors are licensed and regulated under the Collection and Debt Settlement Services Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. C.14 (CDSSA), a statute that has existed in one form or another since 1990 and was renamed from the Collection Agencies Act effective January 1, 2015. As of this article's verification date, the CDSSA's current consolidated version is effective from December 6, 2023, and it is not repealed.

A separate statute, the Consumer Protection Act, 2023 (S.O. 2023, c. 23, Sched. 1), received Royal Assent the same day and will eventually repeal the older Consumer Protection Act, 2002, the general statute covering consumer contracts and cancellation rights. That is a different law from the CDSSA. The only place the two statutes intersect is a small number of cross-references inside the CDSSA, sections 16.6(5), 16.7(3) and (4), 16.8(1), and 16.9, that will eventually point to the Consumer Protection Act, 2023 instead of the 2002 version. As of the Ontario e-laws consolidation current to August 12, 2026, every one of those cross-reference updates is flagged not in force. They are cosmetic renumbering, not a substantive change to how a collector must behave, and the CDSSA's own conduct rules are untouched either way. If a source claims a major overhaul of Ontario debt collection law is imminent, check the CDSSA's current version directly at ontario.ca before relying on it, since a proclamation date for the Consumer Protection Act, 2023 was not published as of this session.

The Regulation: R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 74

"21 (1) No collection agency or collector shall demand payment or otherwise attempt to collect payment of a debt from a debtor or in any other way contact the debtor before the sixth day after sending a notice described in subsection (2), except as permitted under subsection (3), section 21.1 or 21.2." (R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 74, s. 21(1))

The day-to-day conduct rules for Ontario collection agencies live in a single regulation made under the CDSSA: R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 74, titled General. It has been amended several times, most recently by O. Reg. 460/17, O. Reg. 309/14, O. Reg. 103/06, O. Reg. 319/18, and O. Reg. 127/22, but it remains one consolidated regulation rather than a series of separate rule sets. The sections below trace through its main requirements in order: notice, calling hours, third-party and employer contact, the cease-contact routes, prohibited statements, and charges.

Written Notice Before the First Call

Before a collector can telephone to demand payment, section 21(2) of Reg. 74 requires a private written notice containing nine specific items: the creditor's name (and the original creditor's name if different), the type of debt, the amount owed when first due and the amount currently owed, an offer to provide a full breakdown on request, the collection agency or collector's identity and authority to demand payment, a notice about dropping a communication method that costs the debtor money, and full contact information including a toll-free number.

The agency does not have to send that notice and then wait for a separate demand letter. Section 21(3) allows a written demand for payment to be bundled into the same notice, so in practice one mailing can do both jobs, followed by the six-day wait before a phone call. Section 21(4) allows the notice by mail or e-mail, provided the debtor has not withdrawn consent to e-mail contact. If the debtor says the notice never arrived, sections 21(5) and (6) require the agency to resend it once, restarting the six-day clock from the resend.

A detail the general comparison page does not cover: under section 21(7) and (8), a collection agency cannot report the debt to a credit bureau until the six-day notice period, or the resend period, has actually elapsed, unless it made at least two reasonable attempts to locate the debtor and failed. A collector who reports a debt to a credit bureau on day one, before that window runs, is not following the regulation. Section 21.1 allows a brief verbal or text contact before the written notice, but only to confirm the debtor's identity or address so the notice can be sent, with mandatory disclosures during that call; and section 21.2 allows the agency to discuss the debt if the debtor initiates contact first, unprompted.

Calling Hours, Holidays, and the Three-Contact Limit

"1. Make a telephone call or personal call at any of the following times, except at the request of the person being contacted: i. On a Sunday, other than between the hours of 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. local time... ii. On any day of the week other than a Sunday, between the hours of 9 p.m. and 7 a.m. local time... iii. Despite subparagraphs i and ii, on any holiday listed in subsection (7). 2. Contact the person more than three times in a seven-day period on behalf of the same creditor, subject to subsections (8) and (9)." (R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 74, s. 22(6))

This confirms a specific point worth stating directly, because it is commonly misstated: Sunday calls are not banned in Ontario. Section 22(6) allows calls between 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. local time on Sundays. Outside that Sunday window, and all day on the twelve statutory holidays listed in section 22(7), and outside the 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. window on other days, a collector may not call. After the first live conversation with the debtor, section 22(6), paragraph 2 caps further contact at three attempts in any seven day period on behalf of the same creditor.

Two carve-outs shape how that cap is actually counted. Section 22(8) excludes mail contact, contact the debtor requested or consented to, and contact of a third party made solely to locate the debtor from the three-in-seven count. Section 22(9) means the count only starts once the collector actually speaks with the person; unanswered calls and voicemails left before that first live conversation do not use up any of the three contacts.

Contacting an Employer, Family, or Friends

"(4) No collection agency or collector shall contact or attempt to contact the debtor's employer unless, (a) the employer has guaranteed to pay the debt...; (b) the debtor has given the collection agency or collector written authorization...; (c) the contact occurs only once and is for the sole purpose of confirming one or more of the debtor's employment, the debtor's business title and the debtor's business address; or (d) the contact is in respect of payments pursuant to, (i) a wage assignment given to a credit union..., or (ii) an order or judgment made by a court..." (R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 74, s. 22(4))

Outside those four situations, a collector cannot contact the debtor's employer at all. The credit union carve-out in section 22(4)(d)(i) lines up with the Wages Act's own wage-assignment rule; see wage garnishment in Ontario for the exemption that limits how much of that assignment can actually be taken.

Third-party contact, a spouse, relative, or friend, is narrower still under section 22(3): a collector may only contact them to seek a guarantee, at the third party's own request, or for the sole purpose of getting the debtor's contact information when the agency does not already have it. Discussing the actual debt with a family member or friend falls outside all three purposes.

How to Legally Stop a Collector From Contacting You

"(1) If a debtor sends a collection agency or collector, by verifiable means, including personal service, certified mail, courier, facsimile or e-mail, a notice stating that the debtor disputes the debt and suggests that the matter be taken to court, the collection agency or collector shall not thereafter contact or attempt to contact the debtor, unless the debtor consents to or requests the contact." (R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 74, s. 22(1))

Section 22(1) and 22(2) create two distinct written routes to stop contact, and both require verifiable means, personal service, certified mail, courier, fax, or e-mail. A phone call asking the collector to stop does not satisfy either one. The first route, section 22(1), is a dispute-and-court-referral notice, and it requires no lawyer or paralegal to send. The second route, section 22(2), asks the agency to communicate only through a named lawyer or licensed paralegal instead, and it does require naming one. Simply asking, in any format, to communicate only in writing does not by itself trigger either legal cease-contact right; the notice has to fit one of these two categories and reach the agency by one of the listed verifiable means.

False Statements, Threats, and Harassment

"24. No collection agency or collector shall, (a) give any person, directly or indirectly, by implication or otherwise, any false or misleading information; (b) misrepresent to any person contacted in respect of the debt the purpose of the contact or the identity of the creditor or of the collection agency or collector; or (c) use, without lawful authority, any summons, notice, demand or other document that states, suggests or implies that it is authorized or approved by a court..." (R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 74, s. 24)

Section 23 separately bars threatening or stating an intention to start a lawsuit unless the agency actually has the creditor's written authority to sue and the proceeding is not otherwise barred by law, which covers a collector who threatens legal action it has no intention or authority to pursue. Section 22(6), paragraphs 3 through 6, ban publishing or threatening to publish a debtor's failure to pay, threatening or profane or intimidating or coercive language, undue or excessive pressure, and contact frequent enough to amount to harassment. None of this makes an unpaid debt a criminal matter. The regulation's own prohibition on false and misleading statements bars a collector from suggesting non-payment could lead to arrest.

No Add-On Collection Charges

Section 25 bars a collection agency or creditor from adding its own collection costs onto what the debtor owes; charges the agency incurs to pursue the debt are not part of the debt itself. Section 25(2) carves out a narrow exception for a dishonoured-cheque fee, but only if it was disclosed in advance. A demand that includes a collection fee on top of the underlying debt, without that advance disclosure, does not match what the regulation allows.

Debt-Settlement Services: A Banned Sales Claim

Section 26(1), paragraph 5, subparagraph ii of Reg. 74 specifically bans a debt-settlement services provider from claiming its services will or may prevent legal action or garnishment of the debtor's wages. The same section bars claims of non-profit status, government-program affiliation, and unusual savings outcomes. A debt-settlement pitch built around stopping a wage garnishment is making a claim the regulation itself has already designated a prohibited representation.

Licensing and Filing a Complaint

"4 (1) No person shall carry on the business of a collection agency unless the person is registered by the Registrar under this Act." (CDSSA, R.S.O. 1990, c. C.14, s. 4(1))

Every collection agency operating in Ontario must be registered under section 4 of the CDSSA, and section 5 blocks a creditor from pursuing a debt under a name it is not actually owed the debt in, or through an unregistered agency. Section 24(1) goes further and makes it an offence for a creditor to knowingly hire an unlicensed collection agency, so the obligation is not one-sided.

Complaints and licence questions go through Consumer Protection Ontario, part of the Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery and Procurement's Consumer Services Operations Division. As of this article's verification, that office can be reached by e-mail at consumer@ontario.ca or by mail at PO Box 450, Toronto, ON M7A 2J6, and the ministry states a response within 15 business days. The Registrar can also request information directly from an agency under section 12(1), and can refuse, suspend, or revoke a registration under sections 7 and 8, subject to a Licence Appeal Tribunal hearing.

Penalties for Violating the CDSSA

"(2.2) An individual who is convicted of an offence under this Act is liable to a fine of not more than $50,000 or to imprisonment for a term of not more than two years less a day, or both, and a corporation that is convicted of an offence under this Act is liable to a fine of not more than $250,000." (CDSSA, s. 28(2.2))

That criminal-style penalty track runs alongside a separate administrative one. Sections 29.0.1 through 29.0.4 let a Registrar-designated assessor impose an administrative penalty of up to $10,000 without going through a prosecution at all, appealable within 15 days, and enforceable as a Superior Court order if it goes unpaid. Section 29.0.1(7) and (8) make clear this administrative track runs in addition to, not instead of, a prosecution under section 28. A court can also order a convicted agency to pay compensation or restitution to the debtor under section 28(3).

What the CDSSA Does Not Cover

"(1) This Act does not apply, (a) subject to the regulations, to a barrister or solicitor in the regular practice of his or her profession or to his or her employees; (b) to an insurer or agent licensed under the Insurance Act...; (c) to an assignee, custodian, liquidator, receiver, trustee or other person licensed or acting under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (Canada)...; ... or (g) to a credit union..." (CDSSA, s. 2(1))

Section 2(1) exempts several categories from the CDSSA entirely: a lawyer collecting on behalf of a client in the regular practice of law, an insurer, an assignee or trustee acting under federal bankruptcy law, a bank or trust corporation, a credit union, and an isolated collection made by a business whose usual line of work is not debt collection. This does not mean those categories operate free of any rules; other law, including harassment provisions in the Criminal Code and unfair-practices provisions in the Consumer Protection Act, 2002, can still apply to them. It means Reg. 74's specific notice, hours, and cease-contact rules described above are written for licensed collection agencies and collectors, not for these excluded categories.

Compliance with every rule above is about how a debt is collected, not whether it is still owed. A collector who follows every notice and calling-hours requirement can still refer the account to a lawyer and sue; see debt collection rules across Canada for the province comparison and the applicable limitation period before a creditor can no longer sue at all.

Disclaimer

This article is informational only and is not legal advice. It covers debt collector conduct in Ontario under the Collection and Debt Settlement Services Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. C.14, and R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 74, current to the Ontario e-laws consolidation of August 12, 2026. It does not cover other provinces, garnishment procedure, or limitation periods, and it does not restate a specific proclamation date for the Consumer Protection Act, 2023, since none was published as a primary government source as of this article's verification date. Confirm current requirements directly with Consumer Protection Ontario or a lawyer licensed in Ontario before relying on anything described here for a specific situation.