Most Canadian collection agencies answered calls within a minute in new study

CollectionAgencies.ca found that a person answered 82% of 211 calls made to Canadian collection agencies from Oct. 13-16, 2026. The findings suggest many agencies are reachable quickly when people call to verify a debt, and they come as the directory site reports heavy search-driven traffic to its phone-number listings.

Why it matters: - The study measures how easy it is for people to reach a live person when they call a collection agency about a debt. - That access matters because people often call to confirm a debt is real or to identify the original creditor before paying or disputing it. - Fast contact can affect whether a consumer resolves a billing issue, challenges a debt, or avoids paying the wrong party.

What happened: - CollectionAgencies.ca called 211 Canadian collection agency phone numbers from Oct. 13 to 16, 2026. - The sample included the main number for all 57 agencies in the site’s directory and the agency numbers searched most often on the site. - A person answered 172 of the 211 calls, or 82%. - Half of the calls were answered within 33 seconds. - Three in four calls were answered within a minute. - Using each agency once through its main number, a person answered at 46 of the 57 agencies, or 81%.

The details: - Thirty-nine calls, or 18%, never reached a person. - Twenty-five of those calls ended in voicemail. - Fourteen ended with no one answering. - Twelve of the 39 unanswered calls never gave a company name. - Four calls transferred the caller, but each transfer still ended in voicemail. - Fifty-six of the 57 agencies’ main numbers gave the company name, either in a recording or when a person answered. - Forty-eight percent of greetings said the call may be recorded or monitored. - Forty percent of greetings offered French. - Two calls were answered by an AI voice assistant. - The 57 agencies are a sample of collection agencies operating in Canada, and each holds a provincial collection agency licence. - CollectionAgencies.ca listed 748 verified phone numbers for these 57 agencies at the time of the study. - One agency had 99 numbers listed. - Nineteen agencies had 10 or more numbers listed. - From July 14 to Oct. 13, 2026, the site’s pages for the 211 numbers in the study got 23,488 Google search visits. - Eighty-nine percent of those visits were for numbers where a person answered.

Between the lines: - The results show a surprisingly high rate of live pickup for a category that many consumers may expect to route to voicemail. - The large number of phone lines per agency helps explain why people may find collection agencies through search rather than a single main office number. - The study reflects one call per number, so response rates could vary at other times of day or on another day. - The site’s traffic data suggests strong public demand for help identifying unknown debt-related callers.

What’s next: - CollectionAgencies.ca says the full results, including agency-level outcomes and the study method, are available at the full study. - Call-level data is available to journalists on request. - Results may be cited as the CollectionAgencies.ca call study, October 2026. - The directory site says it will continue listing collection agency phone numbers, short codes, creditor information and provincial licences.

The bottom line: - Most Canadian collection agencies in the sample were reachable by phone quickly, and most calls connected with a live person within a minute.