Tens of thousands eligible for refund from B.C. lender, regulator finds

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More than 65,000 Canadians may be eligible for refunds after British Columbia’s consumer protection regulator found a Vancouver-based lender used deceptive marketing practices to promote and sell its loans.

Consumer Protection B.C. says Spring Financial has entered into an agreement with the regulator to reimburse tens of thousands of customers across the country who had signed up for the company’s secured savings loan offering.

The eligible customers would have signed up for the loan between April 8, 2016 and March 12, 2021, the consumer protection office said in a statement Wednesday.

While the company’s B.C.-based customers were already refunded for the loan offerings in 2023 and 2024, Consumer Protection B.C. says more than 38,000 borrowers in Ontario and more than 19,500 in Alberta are now eligible for returns.

Refunds from $40 to $2,000

Louise Hartland, a spokesperson for Consumer Protection B.C., says the value of the refunds will depend on how much each borrower contributed.

“Based on the refunds B.C. consumers got, the approximate refund range is from $40 to more than $2,000, with the majority falling somewhere in the middle,” Hartland told CTV News on Friday.

More than $212,000 has already been refunded to the company’s B.C. borrowers, she added.

The settlement agreement followed an investigation by the consumer protection office, which was triggered by a “large volume” of consumer complaints about the company’s secured savings loans.

According to the details of the agreement, Spring Financial was ordered to reimburse the consumer protection office $3,160 to cover its inspection costs, and pay $15,000 to the provincial Consumer Advancement Fund, a trust fund that promotes consumer education and compliance in B.C.

Spring Financial told the regulator that it notified its Canadian customers of their refund eligibility by email on or before Dec. 31, 2025.

“Consumers should look for an email titled ‘Administrative Update,’” the consumer protection office says, urging those who did not receive the email to contact the company at [e-mail].

“Spring Financial used the last known email address they had to contact these consumers,” Hartland said in a statement. “Anyone who changed their contact information or deleted the email may miss out on these refunds if they don’t reach out to the company directly.”

The consumer protection agency says those borrowers who are eligible for a refund will be asked to explain their interactions with Spring Financial and must submit a refund claim within six months of receiving approval.

“If a consumer believes they are eligible for a refund and their claim is denied, Consumer Protection B.C. will be notified and may review the file,” the office said.