Hi Marilyn,
With regards to taping phone calls of collection agencies, I'm not really sure of a good answer.
I know that because a collection agency is not a private person, they don't fall under the PIPEDA or personal privacy information laws.
I guess you would have to ask yourself who would ultimately listen to your taped calls, and would they take them as "evidence". Again, that should be a question for Ministry of Justice -
Ontario Consumer Protection
With regards to the legalities of taping phone calls, probably call your phone company, and/or the
CRTC - Canadian Radio-television and and ask them.
The idea of taping the phone calls of a collection agency is a good one. This is good evidence of how they treat people.
Marilyn, Can you let us know what you find out? That would be appreciated! :)