Payday lenders popping up in BC

Payday lenders are a problem.

This Walrus article made me blink. I’ve always imagined predatory lending to be a more-or-less foreign issue with only minor Canadian implications. Not so much.

Here’s a geographical look of the extent of payday lenders in BC, divided by opening date. We’ve seen a steady increase of payday loan retailers over the last 6 years. What’s perhaps most surprising is their geographical spread – these aren’t just a phenomenon of the population-dense Lower Mainland. In Fort St. John, you too can gain an albatross of a high interest loan.

Data from Consumer Protection BC, mapping done in Google Fusion Tables. See the raw data here.