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ARTICLE · 22 JUNE 2021

What's Criminal? Lenders Beware – Amendments To Criminal Code Under Bill C-274

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An Act to amend the Criminal Code Bill-C-274 (the Bill) entered first reading in the House of Commons on May 11, 2021.

CanadaLitigation, Mediation & Arbitration
Joyce Bernasek
Joyce Bernasek
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An Act to amend the Criminal Code Bill-C-274 (the Bill) entered first reading in the House of Commons on May 11, 2021. The Bill would amend1 the definitions of "criminal rate" and "interest" in subsection 347(2) of the Criminal Code, while also repealing section 347.1, which had allowed certain exceptions for payday loans.

The Bill will be of interest to lenders, especially payday lenders and other non-traditional lenders, as the amendments proposed would lower the criminal rate at which interest charged or received is under the Criminal Code from 60% to 30%.

Moreover, the Bill would repeal section 347.1 of the Criminal Code. Consequently, payday lenders will no longer have certain exemptions from the criminal rate of interest set out under section 347. Moving forward, any lender, including a payday lender or other lending entity, that is found to charge or receive interest exceeding the criminal rate may be guilty of either an indictable offence, liable to

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