Why did we call these collection agencies?
If a collection agency contacts you, you may want to confirm the debt is genuine or find out who the original creditor is before you pay or dispute it. Calling the collection agency is one way to do that, so we wanted to see how easy it is to reach someone to discuss it. We also checked whether each agency identified itself.
How did collection agencies answer our calls?
A person answered 172 of 211 calls (82%). Most calls started with a recorded message, and 25 went straight to a person.
| How the call was answered | Calls | Share of all calls |
|---|---|---|
| Recorded message, then a person | 146 | 69% |
| A person, with no recording first | 25 | 12% |
| AI assistant, then a person | 1 | Under 1% |
| Recorded message, then voicemail | 21 | 10% |
| Recorded message, no one answered | 14 | 7% |
| Voicemail box full | 2 | 1% |
| Straight to voicemail | 1 | Under 1% |
| AI assistant, then voicemail | 1 | Under 1% |
| All calls | 211 | 100% |
The 25 calls that went to voicemail were to numbers belonging to 18 different collection agencies. The 14 calls with no one answering were to numbers belonging to five different agencies.
Two calls were answered by an AI assistant. One connected us to a person. The other transferred us when we asked for an agent, but we reached a staff member's voicemail.
One agency accounted for 10 of 39 unanswered calls; a person answered 6 of the 16 numbers we called there. Without that agency, a person answered 166 of 195 calls (85%). Counting each agency once by its main phone number, we reached a person at 46 of 57 agencies (81%).
Source: CollectionAgencies.ca call study, October 2026
How long did it take to reach a person at a collection agency?
The median wait was 33 seconds, and the average was 47 seconds. Three in four calls that reached someone were answered in under a minute. The longest wait was 6 minutes 54 seconds.
| Wait before a person answered | Calls | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Under 30 seconds | 65 | 38% |
| 30 to 59 seconds | 67 | 39% |
| 1:00 to 1:59 | 30 | 17% |
| 2:00 to 4:59 | 8 | 5% |
| 5:00 or more | 2 | 1% |
| All calls that reached a person | 172 | 100% |
Someone answered 24 of the calls right away, without a recording or hold.
Source: CollectionAgencies.ca call study, October 2026
Main phone number results for all 57 collection agencies
A person answered 46 of the 57 collection agencies' main phone numbers (81%), after a median wait of 47 seconds. The other 11 went to voicemail (8), ended with no one answering (2) or reached a full voicemail box (1). Every main phone number except the full voicemail box gave the company's name. When we called that number again on October 19, it played a greeting naming Canada Legal Referral.
| Agency | Main phone number | How the call was answered | Time to reach a person |
|---|---|---|---|
| Action Collections & Receivables Management (ACRM) | 1-877-503-9633 | Recorded message, then a person | 2:26 |
| Advanced Collection Services | 1-800-668-1383 | Recorded message, then a person | 0:49 |
| Affinity Credit Solutions | 1-866-759-8027 | Recorded message, then a person | 0:35 |
| AIM Professional Services | 1-877-775-4555 | Recorded message, then a person | 1:32 |
| Allied International Credit Corp (AIC) | 1-888-478-8181 | Recorded message, then voicemail | |
| ARM Collection Agency | 1-866-321-7169 | Recorded message, then a person | 0:59 |
| ARO Inc | 1-877-322-1414 | Recorded message, then a person | 1:46 |
| C3 Canada | 1-866-537-6868 | Recorded message, then a person | 0:56 |
| Canaccede | 1-888-316-2369 | Recorded message, then a person | 0:37 |
| Canada Legal Referral | 1-800-241-0560 | Voicemail box full, no company greeting | |
| Canadian Credit Corporation (CCC) | 1-877-695-2500 | Recorded message, then a person | 1:06 |
| Canadian Credit Protection Corporation | 1-866-926-9744 | Recorded message, then a person | 0:48 |
| Canadian Express Collection Agency | 1-416-900-6036 | Recorded message, then voicemail | |
| CBV Collection Services | 1-888-385-5009 | Recorded message, then a person | 1:24 |
| Central Credit Control | 1-877-222-9876 | A person, with no recording first | Immediately |
| CGI Credit Guard | 1-800-454-8864 | Recorded message, then a person | 0:19 |
| Collectrite Credit Bureau Collections | 1-800-361-2980 | Recorded message, no one answered | |
| Commercial Credit Adjusters | 1-866-958-5850 | Recorded message, then a person | 0:45 |
| Common Collection Agency | 1-888-851-8699 | Recorded message, then a person | 1:00 |
| Consolidated Recovery Systems | 1-403-261-2777 | Recorded message, then a person | 0:55 |
| Credit Bureau of Canada Collections | 1-800-256-8964 | Recorded message, then a person | 1:23 |
| Credit Bureau of Owen Sound | 1-519-371-5000 | Recorded message, then voicemail | |
| Credit Bureau Services Canada | 1-800-263-4764 | Recorded message, then a person | 1:17 |
| D&A Group Services | 1-888-395-1147 | Recorded message, then voicemail | |
| Debt Control Agency (DCA) | 1-866-307-5322 | Recorded message, then a person | 1:02 |
| Dixon Commercial Investigators | 1-800-387-8929 | Recorded message, then a person | 0:28 |
| EASICollect | 1-888-478-7921 | A person, with no recording first | Immediately |
| Financial Debt Recovery (FDR) | 1-800-763-3328 | Recorded message, then a person | 1:01 |
| First Choice Credit Services (FSTCCS) | 1-800-790-3141 | Recorded message, then voicemail | |
| Gatestone & Co. | 1-800-900-4238 | Recorded message, then a person | 1:13 |
| GCQ Canada | 1-800-566-8944 | Recorded message, then a person | 0:45 |
| General Credit Services | 1-877-588-4274 | Recorded message, then a person | 0:31 |
| Go Beyond Collection Agency | 1-877-300-6006 | Recorded message, then a person | 0:37 |
| Groupe Solution Collect | 1-888-531-1074 | Recorded message, then voicemail | |
| InDebted | 1-844-233-7240 | Recorded message, then voicemail | |
| Kingston Data & Credit | 1-888-908-3151 | Recorded message, then a person | 0:48 |
| MAC Financial Recovery | 1-905-206-6940 | A person, with no recording first | Immediately |
| MetCredit | 1-888-797-7727 | Recorded message, no one answered | |
| MJR Capital Services | 1-877-669-4935 | Recorded message, then a person | 0:35 |
| National Recovery Corp (NRC) | 1-877-476-4040 | A person, with no recording first | Immediately |
| NCRi | 1-888-670-6274 | Recorded message, then a person | 1:22 |
| North American Receivable Management Services (iQor) | 1-888-807-2576 | Recorded message, then a person | 0:25 |
| Northstar Location Services | 1-888-287-0600 | Recorded message, then a person | 0:30 |
| Partners in Credit Inc | 1-888-730-6333 | Recorded message, then a person | 0:55 |
| Phillips & Cohen Associates | 1-866-272-3003 | Recorded message, then a person | 0:42 |
| PRA Group Canada | 1-866-903-1741 | Recorded message, then a person | 0:32 |
| Primat | 1-514-471-0435 | Recorded message, then a person | 1:14 |
| Pyxis Solutions | 1-888-354-8900 | Recorded message, then a person | 1:05 |
| Resolve Financial Recovery | 1-416-900-3807 | Recorded message, then a person | 0:22 |
| Total Credit Recovery | 1-800-267-2482 | Recorded message, then voicemail | |
| Transworld Systems Canada (TSI) | 1-844-239-0876 | Recorded message, then a person | 1:34 |
| Tricura Canada | 1-866-788-0288 | Recorded message, then a person | 0:40 |
| Unik Credit Management (UCM) | 1-800-463-9692 | Recorded message, then a person | 0:05 |
| UPLevel | 1-800-267-0490 | Recorded message, then a person | 1:08 |
| Vanguard Collection Agencies | 1-780-486-1011 | A person, with no recording first | Immediately |
| Veritas Alliance | 1-800-270-9938 | A person, with no recording first | Immediately |
| Wiggins Adjustments | 1-604-530-0211 | Recorded message, then a person | 0:43 |
Time to reach a person is how long the call took, from when it connected until a person answered, including any recording, menu or hold. It's blank where no one answered.
Source: CollectionAgencies.ca call study, October 2026
"A lot of people phone a collection agency to find out more about a debt before they pay or dispute it, especially when they don't recognize it. We wanted to see how easy it is to reach a person to do this. Most of the time someone answered within a minute and told us who we'd reached."
Joe Conlon, founder of CollectionAgencies.ca
How many numbers did we call for each collection agency?
We called between 1 and 19 numbers for each collection agency: the main phone number and the most searched numbers on our site.
| Agency | Numbers called | Reached a person |
|---|---|---|
| Action Collections & Receivables Management (ACRM) | 6 | 5 |
| Advanced Collection Services | 1 | 1 |
| Affinity Credit Solutions | 1 | 1 |
| AIM Professional Services | 1 | 1 |
| Allied International Credit Corp (AIC) | 2 | 1 |
| ARM Collection Agency | 4 | 3 |
| ARO Inc | 6 | 5 |
| C3 Canada | 2 | 2 |
| Canaccede | 2 | 2 |
| Canada Legal Referral | 1 | 0 |
| Canadian Credit Corporation (CCC) | 1 | 1 |
| Canadian Credit Protection Corporation | 2 | 2 |
| Canadian Express Collection Agency | 1 | 0 |
| CBV Collection Services | 17 | 17 |
| Central Credit Control | 1 | 1 |
| CGI Credit Guard | 1 | 1 |
| Collectrite Credit Bureau Collections | 1 | 0 |
| Commercial Credit Adjusters | 12 | 10 |
| Common Collection Agency | 5 | 4 |
| Consolidated Recovery Systems | 1 | 1 |
| Credit Bureau of Canada Collections | 16 | 15 |
| Credit Bureau of Owen Sound | 1 | 0 |
| Credit Bureau Services Canada | 1 | 1 |
| D&A Group Services | 6 | 5 |
| Debt Control Agency (DCA) | 6 | 6 |
| Dixon Commercial Investigators | 1 | 1 |
| EASICollect | 1 | 1 |
| Financial Debt Recovery (FDR) | 19 | 19 |
| First Choice Credit Services (FSTCCS) | 4 | 0 |
| Gatestone & Co. | 11 | 8 |
| GCQ Canada | 2 | 2 |
| General Credit Services | 3 | 3 |
| Go Beyond Collection Agency | 1 | 1 |
| Groupe Solution Collect | 2 | 1 |
| InDebted | 1 | 0 |
| Kingston Data & Credit | 2 | 1 |
| MAC Financial Recovery | 1 | 1 |
| MetCredit | 3 | 2 |
| MJR Capital Services | 5 | 3 |
| National Recovery Corp (NRC) | 2 | 2 |
| NCRi | 9 | 9 |
| North American Receivable Management Services (iQor) | 2 | 2 |
| Northstar Location Services | 1 | 1 |
| Partners in Credit Inc | 4 | 3 |
| Phillips & Cohen Associates | 2 | 2 |
| PRA Group Canada | 3 | 3 |
| Primat | 1 | 1 |
| Pyxis Solutions | 1 | 1 |
| Resolve Financial Recovery | 2 | 2 |
| Total Credit Recovery | 7 | 5 |
| Transworld Systems Canada (TSI) | 1 | 1 |
| Tricura Canada | 1 | 1 |
| Unik Credit Management (UCM) | 1 | 1 |
| UPLevel | 1 | 1 |
| Vanguard Collection Agencies | 1 | 1 |
| Veritas Alliance | 16 | 6 |
| Wiggins Adjustments | 2 | 2 |
| All 57 agencies | 211 | 172 |
Source: CollectionAgencies.ca call study, October 2026
What did collection agency greeting messages say?
Just under half of our calls (102 of 211) included a notice that the call may be recorded or monitored. This applied to 34 of 57 calls to a collection agency’s main phone number.
| What the greeting included | All 211 calls | 57 main phone numbers |
|---|---|---|
| A notice that the call may be recorded or monitored | 102 (48%) | 34 (60%) |
| Extension dialling or a company directory | 121 (57%) | 35 (61%) |
| A French option, or a greeting in French | 84 (40%) | 32 (56%) |
| A message about a high volume of calls | 19 (9%) | 0 |
| Ontario's Collection and Debt Settlement Services Act, by name | 17 (8%) | 2 (4%) |
The high-call-volume messages were on numbers belonging to four agencies, and the 17 mentions of Ontario's Collection and Debt Settlement Services Act were on numbers belonging to three agencies. The recording notice count includes four calls where a person answered while the notice was still playing.
These figures describe greeting messages only and don't show whether agencies follow call recording rules, which vary by province. Notices may come after the greeting, once someone is on the line. We hung up as soon as someone answered.
Source: CollectionAgencies.ca call study, October 2026
What this means if a collection agency calls you
- Look up the number in our phone number lookup or collection agency directory, then call the agency back at its main number. Most main numbers were answered within a minute and gave a company name.
- Expect a recording first. 181 of our 211 calls started with one.
- Be cautious if a caller or greeting doesn't give a company name.
- If you don't recognize the debt, ask for the details in writing before you pay anything.
- If the debt is old, check your province's limitation period before you pay or confirm anything in writing.
Do people search these collection agency numbers often?
Yes. Between July 14 and October 13, 2026, our pages for the 211 phone numbers in this study received 23,488 visits from Google search. Of those visits, 89% were for numbers where we reached a person when we called. These figures count visits, not people or calls.
Source: Google Search Console – performance report for our phone-number pages, July 14 to October 13, 2026
What this study can and can't tell you
This is one round of calls, made over four days in October 2026. Each result is a single call, so a call at another time could go differently.
- It's a sample. Our directory doesn't list every collection agency in Canada yet. Ontario's licence data alone lists more than 100 licensed collection agencies, and we called 57.
- We tested the most visited numbers on our site, not a random sample of every agency's phone numbers.
- Agencies with more numbers in the study count for more in the overall figures. The results for each agency's main phone number count every agency once.
- We measured whether a person answered, not whether they could help with an account. We didn't speak to anyone about a debt.
- No agency, creditor or advertiser paid for or reviewed this study.
How we ran the study
The calls
We called each number from October 13 to 16, 2026, between 9:48 a.m. and 6:11 p.m. Eastern Time. We used a personal phone number with visible caller ID and timed each wait.
Every call that didn't reach a person was made between 9:51 a.m. and 4:43 p.m. Eastern Time, during the working day at the agency's head office, including those in Alberta and Manitoba. Where a recording gave office hours, the call was made during them. All seven calls made after 5 p.m. reached a person.
Where a recording offered options, we chose English and the option most likely to reach a person, such as collections, reception or an agent. With the two AI assistants, we asked for an agent. We stayed on the line until a person or voicemail answered, or the call ended. We ended four calls that were still on hold after 10 minutes or more. When someone answered, we ended the call immediately without discussing any account.
For calls that ended in voicemail or with no one answering, we noted the time until the voicemail started or the call ended, and those times aren't part of the wait figures.
Our records
We didn't record the calls. We used an AI assistant's voice-to-text feature to capture the greetings as we listened, then tidied the text into a consistent format. Each number counts once.
Some took more than one attempt. For example, if a call didn't connect, we couldn't tell which company answered, or if the voice-to-text missed the greeting. We checked every counted call against our phone's call log. For one call, to Debt Control Agency's main phone number, our notes didn't match the log, so we used the log's wait time.
We don't publish staff names. We plan to repeat this study in October 2027 and keep the 2026 results on this page.
The numbers we called
We called the main published phone number for all 57 collection agencies in our directory. We also called 155 of the most-searched collection agency numbers on our site, based on Google search data from July to October 2026. Six numbers appeared on both lists, leaving 206 unique numbers. We also called five other numbers agencies use or have used, such as older main phone numbers, for a total of 211.
On October 15, First Choice Credit Services and ARM Collection Agency showed newer main phone numbers on their websites, so we used those. First Choice's newer number answered with a recording for First Choice Customer Care Solutions. Allied International Credit's (AIC) main phone number, 1-888-478-8181, played a recording naming Bill Gosling Outsourcing. Ontario's licence registry lists Allied International Credit as an operating name of Bill Gosling Outsourcing Corp.
Numbers we left out
We excluded creditors' own collection numbers, such as BMO's and PC Financial's. We also excluded disconnected or unreachable numbers, numbers the listed agency no longer uses, a law firm's number, a lender's application support number, and text message short codes.
When we left out a highly searched number, we called the next most-searched number instead. One number was replaced because no one answered it. Counting it would have lowered the share of calls answered by a person from 82% to 81%.
The agencies
All 57 are debt collection agencies, and some also buy debts and collect them. Collection agencies need a licence in each province where they collect, and each of the 57 holds a collection agency licence: 55 are listed with an issued licence in Ontario's public licence registry for September 2026, and the other two, Affinity Credit Solutions and Vanguard Collection Agencies, operate only in Alberta and are licensed there.
Two collection agencies' main phone number recordings also named a law firm or paralegal firm, and both agencies hold Ontario collection agency licences.
Source: Government of Ontario – Select Licence and Registration Data, September 2026
Source: Service Alberta – licensed collection agencies, October 2026
Frequently asked questions
Do collection agencies answer their phones?
A person answered most of the calls we made. In October 2026, a person answered 172 of our 211 calls (82%). The rest went to voicemail (25 calls), or no one answered (14 calls).
How long does it take to reach a person at a collection agency?
The median wait on our calls was 33 seconds, and the average was 47 seconds. Three in four calls that reached a person were answered in under a minute.
Should I call a collection agency back?
Calling back on the phone number a collection agency publishes is a direct way to find out who is contacting you. Every main phone number we called, except one, gave a company name.
How do I know if a collection agency is legitimate?
Check that the agency is licensed in your province, look up the number, then call back on the agency's main phone number. In our October 2026 calls, 56 of 57 agencies' main phone numbers gave the company's name. Be cautious if a caller or greeting won't name the company.
Will you repeat this study?
Yes. We plan to repeat it in October 2027 and update this page, keeping the 2026 results available.
For collection agencies
Of the 39 calls that didn't reach a person:
- 12 never gave a company name (10 of them on one agency's numbers), so a caller couldn't tell whose number it was.
- 2 went to a full voicemail box.
- 7 pointed callers to another way to pay or get help, such as a website, email, automated phone payments or a callback.
- 4 transferred us or tried to, but each transfer ended in voicemail.
When no one is available to take a call, sending it to the agency's main phone number would be most helpful. Failing that, a message that names the agency and offers another way to pay, dispute or discuss the debt would help the caller.
If you work for a collection agency in this study and think a result is wrong, email info@collectionagencies.ca with the number in question. We'll call it again and correct this page if needed.
We'd also welcome help from collection agencies, including those not yet in our directory. Send us your main phone number and the numbers you call people from, and we'll check them and add them, so people can recognize your calls and reach you more easily.
About CollectionAgencies.ca
CollectionAgencies.ca helps people in Canada find out which collection agency called or texted them. Launched in October 2025, it lists the phone numbers and text message short codes collection agencies use, the creditors they collect for, and their agency licences by province.
Between July 21 and October 18, 2026, it had more than 75,000 visitors, and 9 in 10 new visitors arrived from search engines. The site doesn't collect debts or act for any collection agency.
Media inquiries
For an interview or background on these results, email Joe Conlon at info@collectionagencies.ca. Call data is available to journalists on request.
Reuse the data
The tables and charts on this page may be reused with credit and a link to this page.
Suggested attribution: CollectionAgencies.ca call study, October 2026.