I found these little gems over at: ABC Theorists

They seem to dislike collection agencies more than we do. They haven't posted for a while on their site, however, this is still relevant.

How well do in-house collection departments and subsequently hired collection agencies follow Canadian Law while operating in our country? Information available to ABC Theorists reveals a pattern in such organizations' conduct. With facts hopefully provided by other Canadians, we speculate that pattern might be extrapolated to many, if not most claims pursued by collectors. For that reason, ABC Theorists suspect a rampant problem exists concerning collection practices in Canada.


We produced the following outline from our current collection of evidence concerning collectors' behavior. This outline identifies much, but not all the activities ABC Theorists can document using audio recordings, printed materials, logged telephone records, and information provided by sources within the collection industry.


1) We have been informed, collection agents are encouraged to place civil servants in positions whereby the latter officials unknowingly, and sometimes knowingly, break respective privacy laws.


2) ABC Theorists have also been informed that collection agents are instructed to develop contacts at chartered banks and similar financial institutions in Canada (including other collection agencies). Agents are encouraged to rely on these contacts for desired patron information "off the record."


3) Although creditors normally sent bills to patrons in a secure manner, they often failed to do so once bills went into dispute and were assigned for collection. Specifically, creditors used thick envelopes with security designs to mail bill statements. As well, the information inside was printed on thick paper and folded facing inward rather than on the same face as the address information for the envelope window. Therefore, a potential third party could not readily read the information contained inside without illegally opening the letter.

More over at ABC Theorists website