Borrowing by situation
Lenders do not underwrite a product, they underwrite a file. These pages are about the file: thin credit, a past insolvency, income that moves, a recent arrival in Canada, or a co-signer on the application.
Choose your situation
Bad credit
Bad credit does not switch off your ability to borrow in Canada, but it does change who will review your file and what they will ask for. A loan on poor credit usually comes with a smaller amount, a shorter term, a higher cost, or a requirement for security or a co-signer.
No credit history
Having no credit history is not the same as having bad credit. With an empty file a lender has no repayment record to score, so the decision shifts to income, banking history, a deposit or a co-signer.
Self-employed
Being self-employed does not disqualify you from business financing, but it changes how your income is measured and which documents decide the file. There is no separate self-employed loan program, so the route you choose matters more than the label you apply under.
New to Canada
Being new to Canada does not disqualify you from borrowing, but it changes what a lender can verify, and there is no single loan for Canada as a whole because lending is licensed province by province. Your file is decided by your status documents, your Canadian income, and how much Canadian credit history you have built.
Student
Being a student does not create a separate lending category, and it does not change what a lender measures. It changes how much evidence exists: income is seasonal, the credit file is often thin, and enrolment is not the same thing as capacity to pay.
Senior
For a senior borrower, the property usually carries more weight than the paycheque, and the lender's question becomes whether your retirement income is documented and stable. A line of credit on house and other equity loans are assessed on appraised value, the charges already registered against the title, and how the payments fit the cash you actually receive each month.
On disability income
Being on disability income does not by itself stop you from borrowing in Canada. What decides the outcome is how the income is documented, how long it is expected to continue, and how much of it is already committed to existing debts.
After bankruptcy
Yes, you can usually borrow after a bankruptcy is discharged, but nothing is automatic and the terms depend on how recent the discharge is, what credit you have rebuilt since, and your income. A loan on poor credit after insolvency is priced case by case rather than from a published rate table, and loanmoose.ca is not a lender — we do not make credit decisions.
After a consumer proposal
After a completed consumer proposal, the notation usually stays on your credit report for 3 years from completion or 6 years from filing, whichever comes first, and lenders will see it during that window. Unsecured private loans and a personal loan for bad credit can still exist inside that window, but the lender, the price and the amount are decided by your income, your file and the time since completion.
Single income household
A single income does not disqualify you from a personal loan or a personal line of credit. What changes is how the file is read: one income has to carry every payment on the application, so the emphasis moves from the size of the household income to the debt service numbers and the durability of that income.
Seasonal income
With seasonal income, a loan for cash is decided on your full year, not your best month or your worst one. What changes is the evidence a lender needs in order to see a complete cycle, and which routes are actually built for a gap that lasts longer than a pay period.
Gig and contract work
Gig and contract income does not disqualify you from a personal loan, but it changes how a lender has to verify what you earn. What decides the outcome is not the type of work you do — it is how consistently you can document it.
Using a co-signer
A co-signer is a second person whose income, debts and credit history are added to a loan or credit application; the primary borrower's own history does not change, and the lender still makes its own decision. What changes is how the file is assessed, who is legally on the hook for repayment, and what appears on each person's credit report.
Building credit with a loan
A thin credit file does not close the door, but it does change which products are realistic. Most people start with a deposit-backed product or a small instalment loan, build a payment record, and only then reach the point where a larger credit line is considered.
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