Payday Loans

  • Springing the Debt Trap

    Springing the Debt Trap

    Peter Stockland with Brian Dijkema

    April 11, 2018

    This week, Cardus Work and Economics gave municipalities in Ontario data-driven advice about handling new powers over the debt trap that is the payday loan industry. Convivium’s Peter Stockland spoke with program director Brian Dijkema about helping cities help the working poor.

    Peter Stockland: Cardus Work and Economics has offered guidelines to municipalities for dealing with the so-called payday loans industry, which provides short-term loans at very high cost to people desperate for ready cash. Tell us about th...

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  • Which NDP will introduce the "Act to End Predatory Lending"?

    Which NDP will introduce the "Act to End Predatory Lending"?

    Brian Dijkema

    March 23, 2016

    The idea is sound. As noted in a recent report by Cardus, Banking on the Margins, payday lenders and the loans themselves are structured in such a way as to encourage their customers to become dependent. The loans, while quick and easy, do not build credit, and they require customers to pay back the original amount borrowed plus substantial interest in one lump sum. Too often this results in adding a significant deluge of spending for people who are already struggling to maintain a responsible cash-flow. An unemployed construction worker from Fort McMurray who has trouble making ends meet one week can be crippled by the automatic withdrawal of his previous week’s shortage plus interest rates that, in Alberta at an annual rate of 839% on a ten-day term, are the second highest in the country. And, as our research suggests, the struggle doesn’t stay with the individual. The lack of funds and the increase in debt are linked to mounting costs to families, significant physical and mental health problems, increased criminal activity, and a host of other problems which ultimately strain society – and often the government.

    In the throne speech this month, Lieutenant Governor Lois Mitchell announced the Notley government’s intention to “protect Albertans who are experiencing economic d...

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