Family & Friend Loan Agreement FAQ (Canada)

About four minutes. You answer a few plain questions, send one secure link, and you both sign from your phones — no printing, no appointments.

No. You draft on your own for free, then send one secure link. The borrower reads the same document, signs from their phone, or asks for a change first.

Yes. You can choose monthly payments, a single lump sum, or flexible repayment by a deadline — and set the date that works for both of you.

You can create a new agreement that supersedes the old one, signed by both parties the same way. Keep both records so the change is clear.

Yes. LendRight works for any private loan between individuals in Canada — friends, a partner, a coworker — not just family.

Yes. E-signatures are recognized federally and in every province for ordinary contracts like loan agreements. What makes one hold up is the proof around it — timestamps and evidence the document wasn't altered. That's exactly what the certificate provides.

An agreement can't force payment — it closes the most common escape hatches. In small claims court, a signed agreement with a verified signing record is the strongest evidence you can bring, and most provinces let you file without a lawyer (Ontario up to $50,000; Alberta $100,000).

A locked PDF of the agreement plus a signing certificate showing who signed, when, and proof the document wasn't altered — the kind of record courts expect to see.

No. LendRight is a self-help document tool — you make every decision; the software assembles province-specific language designed for private loans and runs compliance checks. For complicated situations, talk to a lawyer.

A lawyer can advise on complex or high-value situations and tailor unusual terms — for those, use one. For an ordinary loan between family or friends, a LendRight agreement covers the same essentials — parties, amount, repayment, interest, signatures — in plain language, checked against Canadian rules, with a tamper-evident signing record. The difference is about four minutes instead of days, and $29 instead of the several hundred dollars bespoke drafting typically costs. What a lawyer adds — and we don’t — is advice: judgment about your situation. If your loan has any of the wrinkles in our Do I need a lawyer? tool, get that advice first.

Often, no. For a straightforward, unsecured loan between two adults in the same province, many people choose to document the terms themselves without hiring a lawyer. Professional advice is worth it when there's security against property, a business borrower, tax or estate planning, a separation, or money crossing a border. Not sure which side yours falls on? Our 60-second lawyer check walks you through seven questions, and our guide on how to lend money to family legally covers the basics.

Yes. A loan agreement between individuals is a contract, and a contract doesn't need a lawyer to be valid — it needs clear terms both people agree to, and proof they agreed. A written, signed agreement is far stronger evidence than a handshake or a text thread; see whether a verbal loan agreement is binding in Canada for why putting it in writing matters.

Generally no. An ordinary unsecured loan between individuals does not need to be notarized to be valid or enforceable in Canada's common-law provinces — a signed agreement with a clear record is enough. Notarization comes into play mainly with property: a mortgage or charge registered against a home, and in Quebec, certain acts that must be done before a notary. If your loan is secured against real estate, that part should go through a lawyer or notary.

Yes — for the security part. Putting a charge or mortgage on someone's home has to be registered on title, and that requires a lawyer or, in Quebec, a notary; it's not something a written agreement can do on its own. You can still use a written agreement to record the everyday terms, but get the security set up professionally first. Our guide on a family down payment loan and the mortgage/CRA rules explains the common version of this.

Independent legal advice — where each person sees their own lawyer — matters most when the stakes or the imbalance are high: large amounts, a loan tied to a separation or estate, a guarantor or co-signer taking on real risk, or any worry about pressure or capacity on either side. It protects everyone by making clear that both people understood what they signed. Our lawyer check flags the situations where it's worth it.

Yes, optionally. We write the rate as a clear annual rate (the disclosure the Interest Act requires) and check it against Canada's 35% APR ceiling. Most family loans skip interest, and that's fine too.

Drafting is free. A one-time $29 finalisation fee applies only when the agreement is sent for signing. The person creating the agreement can choose whether they or the other party pays.

Only when the agreement is sent for signing — never for drafting. There's no subscription and no recurring charge: you pay once, per agreement, and only if you proceed to signing. The person creating the agreement chooses whether they or the other party pays, and payments are handled by Stripe.

Yes — automatically. If the agreement isn't signed by both parties within 72 hours, it's cancelled and the $29 is refunded in full to whoever paid, with no need to ask. Both of you also get an email confirming the cancellation. The same applies if a signer abandons the process — the link lapses after 72 hours and the fee comes back.

Yes. As long as the agreement hasn't been signed by both parties, email us at doit@trylendright.com with your agreement reference (it starts with LR-) and we'll cancel it and refund the $29 in full.

No. Once both people sign, the service has been delivered — you have a certified, e-signed agreement and its completion record — so the $29 is non-refundable at that point. Refunds go back to the original card via Stripe, usually within 5–10 business days, with no processing fee deducted. Full detail is in our Payments & Refund Policy.

It usually lands the opposite way. A clear agreement says "I take this seriously and I want us to stay good." Many borrowers are relieved — now they know exactly what's expected.

Nothing is binding until both people sign, so you're never locked in. If they hesitate, it usually means the terms need a quick conversation — they can request a change before signing. And since drafting is free, you've risked nothing if you decide not to proceed.

Everything you send travels over an encrypted HTTPS/TLS connection, and your data is encrypted at rest on our infrastructure. We sign you in with one-time email codes, so there's no password to leak. Payments are handled by Stripe — we never see or store your full card number. We don't collect or store any government ID (only a date of birth, to confirm age), and we never sell your information. Your signed documents stay private and are only reachable through short-lived, signed download links — never a public URL.

The moment your agreement is fully signed, we run the final PDF through SHA-256 — a standard cryptographic function that turns the exact bytes of the file into a unique 64-character fingerprint. Change a single character, comma, or pixel and the fingerprint changes completely. We record that fingerprint and print it on your certificate, so the document can always be checked against it. It's how anyone can confirm the file they're holding is byte-for-byte the one that was signed, with nothing altered.

When both parties have signed, we issue an Electronic Signing Certificate — a separate PDF that serves as a tamper-evident audit record of the signing. It shows the agreement's reference number, each signer's name and masked email, the date and time each person signed, how they were verified (a one-time code sent to their email), their consent, and connection details captured at the moment of signing. It also carries the agreement's SHA-256 fingerprint and a QR code linking to our verification page. The certificate doesn't change your agreement — it's the evidence around it.

Go to verify.trylendright.com — or scan the QR code on the certificate — enter the agreement reference number, then select the final signed agreement PDF from your device. Your browser calculates the file's SHA-256 fingerprint locally and sends only the reference and fingerprint to LendRight; the PDF itself never leaves your device. If the file is exactly the one that was signed, it verifies as a byte-for-byte match; if even one character has changed, the fingerprint won't match and it's flagged — so you'd know the copy had been altered or was a different version. There's also a weaker fallback, for when you don't have the file: type the printed fingerprint, which checks the certificate record only and doesn't inspect your actual file.

No. We never ask for, collect, or store government ID, photos or scans of ID, driver's licences, passports, or biometric data. The only thing we use to confirm you meet the age of majority is a date of birth. See our Privacy Policy for the full detail.

The moment the second person signs, the agreement is locked and a separate Certificate of Completion PDF is generated automatically — no one has to request it. It's built from the recorded facts of the signing: each signer's name, the exact date and time they signed (in UTC), how each was verified, their consent, the connection details captured at signing, and the SHA-256 fingerprint of the final agreement. It's then stored and made available to download. The certificate is generated once and never edited — it's a fixed record of what happened.

A branded PDF showing: the agreement reference number, the amount and governing law, and when it was completed; then one block per signer with the time they signed, the IP address recorded at signing, an honest verification line (for most loans, a one-time email code), and their e-signature and loan-not-gift consent. At the bottom it carries the agreement's full SHA-256 document hash and a QR code that links to our verification site. It's a self-contained audit trail — the evidence around your agreement, separate from the agreement itself.

When your final agreement PDF is sealed, we run its exact bytes through SHA-256, a standard cryptographic hash function. It produces a unique 64-character fingerprint of that precise file. Changing a single character, comma, or pixel produces a completely different fingerprint, so the hash acts as a tamper-evident seal: the document can always be checked against it byte-for-byte. We freeze that fingerprint at the moment of sealing, record when it was frozen, and print it on the certificate — it's the authoritative reference for the one true version of your agreement.

Go to verify.trylendright.com (or scan the QR code on the certificate), enter the agreement reference number, then select the final signed agreement PDF from your device. Your browser calculates the file's SHA-256 fingerprint locally, and only the reference and fingerprint are sent to LendRight — the PDF itself never leaves your device. An exact match means the selected PDF is byte-for-byte identical to the final agreement LendRight recorded; if even one character differs, it won't match. There's also a weaker fallback, for when you don't have the file — type the reference and the printed fingerprint, which checks the certificate record only and doesn't inspect your actual file. The check is open to anyone who holds the certificate — a borrower, a lender, or a third party like a court or an accountant.

Yes. The QR code and the verification page only ever deal with the reference number and the hash — never names, emails, amounts, addresses, or the loan terms. A successful check returns only non-personal facts (reference, certificate ID, completion date, hash). The lookup is rate-limited and gives one identical "not verified" response for any non-match, so reference numbers can't be guessed or enumerated, and the stored hash is never altered by a check.

As soon as both have signed, we email the sealed agreement and the Certificate of Completion to both people — the lender and the borrower — together. The email links use short-lived, signed download links rather than public URLs, so the documents stay private. Both parties end up with identical copies of the same certificate, so each holds independent proof of the signing.

A downloaded template or a printed-and-signed PDF has nothing standing behind it — no record of who signed, when, from where, or whether the copy you're holding was altered afterward. LendRight adds that missing layer: a tamper-evident SHA-256 seal on the exact document, a completion certificate recording the verified signing, and an independent public page where anyone can confirm a copy is genuine. That's the part most template sellers don't provide, and it's what turns a piece of paper into evidence you can actually rely on if it's ever questioned.

All of Canada's common-law provinces — Ontario, BC, Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland & Labrador, PEI, and the territories. Quebec has its own civil-law system, so we're building it properly — coming soon.

No. A genuine loan is not income, so the borrower does not pay tax on the principal they receive. That's one of the main reasons to document it as a loan rather than a gift — a signed agreement is your evidence it was always meant to be repaid.

Yes. If you charge interest, the interest you receive is taxable income and must be reported on your Canadian tax return. An interest-free loan generates no interest income, so there's nothing to report. This is general information, not tax advice.

It's an income-splitting strategy: you lend to a spouse or family member at the CRA's prescribed interest rate, they invest the money, and investment returns above that rate are taxed in their hands instead of yours. The interest must actually be charged and paid by January 30 each year, and the rate is locked in for the life of the loan. For amounts that matter, confirm the details with an accountant.

Yes. With nothing in writing and no repayments, the CRA or a court may decide the money was really a gift — which can carry tax and legal consequences, especially around property and divorce. A signed agreement that names the parties, amount, and repayment terms is the clearest evidence that it was a loan.