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Hence the hand wringing. Governments have never been comfortable with the idea that companies could profit by offering what amounted to predatory loans to a segment of society who can’t get a bank account or a credit card. Even so, the provinces decided to ring fence the payday lenders with a regulatory structure.

In the case of Ontario, where 750 of these companies operate, the Payday Loans Act was established in 2008, and amended in 2011 when the government worried lenders were getting around the maximum borrowing costs by charging fees.

Ditto for the other provinces – except for Quebec, where payday loans are prohibited. Borrowing costs vary from province to province, for example, $25 per $100 in Nova Scotia, $23 per $100 in B.C., and $17 per $100 in Manitoba.

Interestingly, payday loan companies are under fire from provincial regulators just as giant U.K. short-term lender Wonga readies for its arrival in Canada. The online lender is in the initial phase of its Canadian launch and will primarily focus in Ontario and eventually branch out West.

By offering more flexible loans and terms “uniquely built for Canada,” Wonga Canada CEO Mark Ruddock said in an email, the company is “committed to offering loans to those who have the ability to repay them.”

Over in the U.K., Wonga is among the group of 240 companies under formal investigation by the U.K.’s Office of Fair Trading after almost 700 complaints were filed last year. Last November, the OFT said it is concerned about “aggressive debt collection practices” and whether the companies are actually providing affordable loans. “