Ontario.A debt collector's power is mostly the phone. The pressure is in the volume and the timing of the calls, and in the suggestion, rarely true, that the rules are whatever the collector says they are. They are not. In Ontario, collection conduct is governed by the Collection and Debt Settlement Services Act and the regulation under it, and those rules are specific about when a collector may call you, how often, who else they may speak to, and what they may say. This is the plain version. It is general information about Ontario law, not legal advice about your situation.

Keep it on hand: we made a free, printable pocket card on your rights when a collector calls. Print it, fold it, keep it.

Whether you owe it is a separate question

Start here, because it is the part collectors blur. The rules below govern how a debt may be collected. They are not a finding that you owe the money. You are allowed to dispute a debt, to ask for proof of it, and to require that any further contact about it happen in writing, all while the question of whether you actually owe it remains open. Conduct rules and the underlying debt are two different things. A collector who is breaking the conduct rules is breaking them regardless of whether the debt is real.

They have to write to you first

Before a collection agency starts telephoning you, it generally has to send you a written notice with the basic information about the debt: who the original creditor is, the amount, and the name of the agency now collecting. The notice is meant to let you identify the debt and decide what to do, and the agency is required to wait a set period after sending it before it begins calling. If the first you hear of a debt is an aggressive phone call with no written notice behind it, that is a signal something is off.

When, and how often, can they call?

The regulation puts hard limits on contact. A collector cannot call you at any hour it pleases: calls are barred late at night and early in the morning, restricted to a limited window on Sundays, and not permitted on statutory holidays. There is also a cap on frequency. Once a collector has actually reached you, it cannot keep calling an unlimited number of times; the regulation limits how often you can be contacted within a given period without your consent. Persistent, repeated, hour-after-hour calling is not zealous collection. It is the thing the rules exist to stop.

A collector cannot threaten you, cannot use abusive language, cannot call your employer except in narrow circumstances, and cannot tell your family or neighbours about your debt.

What they are not allowed to do

A collector cannot use threatening, profane, intimidating, or coercive language. It cannot harass you with the manner or volume of its contact. It cannot give false or misleading information, to you or about you, and it cannot collect or try to collect a different amount than is actually owed. It cannot contact your employer except in narrow, defined situations, such as confirming your employment, and it cannot discuss your debt with your family, friends, or neighbours. It may contact another person once, and only to get your address or telephone number, not to announce that you owe money.

How to make the calls stop and put it in writing

This is the most useful right most people never use. You can require a collection agency to communicate with you only in writing, or to deal only with your lawyer or licensed representative. Do it in writing yourself: send the agency a letter, keep a dated copy, and state clearly that you require all further communication to be in writing, and give your mailing address. If you dispute the debt, say that too, and that you want it resolved through the courts if the agency intends to pursue it. Putting your instruction in writing does two things at once: it can shut down the calls, and it creates a record the regulator can act on if the agency ignores it.

The rules follow the debt, not just the agency

One common misunderstanding: people assume these protections only apply to third-party collection agencies, and that the original creditor, the bank or the lender, can do as it likes. The conduct rules in Ontario reach creditors collecting their own debts as well, not only agencies hired to do it. So the limits on timing, frequency, harassment, and contact with third parties are not avoided simply because it is the original company calling.

Where to complain

Collection agencies in Ontario must be registered with the province, and conduct is overseen by the provincial consumer-protection ministry. If a collector breaks these rules, after you have told it in writing, you can file a complaint with the ministry's consumer protection branch, with the details and your records of the contact. Keep a log: dates, times, numbers, who called, and what was said. A specific, documented complaint is the one that moves.

This guide explains general principles of Ontario consumer-protection law as of 2026. Specific time periods and contact limits are set by regulation and can change; confirm the current details with Consumer Protection Ontario. This is journalism, not legal advice, and it cannot account for the facts of any particular debt.