Meta accused of allowing illegal debt-relief ads in Canada despite warnings
A Canadian firm is calling out Meta, alleging that it’s continuing to run illegal debt-relief advertisements on Facebook and Instagram.
Facebook and Instagram ads have driven Canadians to pay nearly $20 million in 2023 to unregulated advisors for services that should be free through a Licensed Insolvency Trustee, according to a release shared by Harris & Partners Inc., a bankruptcy trustee firm founded in Ontario.
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In a statement shared with Daily Hive, the firm said it’s calling on Meta to explain why ads for illegal relief services continue to appear on its platforms, “despite repeated warnings, direct outreach, and mounting federal evidence that such practices are misleading, harmful, and in some cases criminal.”
Joshua Harris, CEO of Harris & Partners Inc., says that these ads undermine Canada’s regulated insolvency system. They also target Canadians who are in financial distress.
“This is no longer a lack of awareness,” said Harris. “Meta has been warned repeatedly, provided with evidence, and directly engaged. Yet the ads continue.”
Harris says he’s repeatedly tried to contact Meta’s head of public policy for Canada. Aside from a single phone call over a year ago, in which he says Meta acknowledged that the illegal ads should be removed, his follow-up attempts have gone unanswered, and the ads remain live.
The Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy (OSB) has also issued repeated warnings about these misleading ads.
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In a report published on Aug. 26, 2025, OSB noted that although there’s been progress in enforcement efforts, debt advisors continue to attract Canadians to the insolvency system based on misleading information. OSB reported investigating 32 individual Licensed Insolvency Trustee licenses and 13 corporate trustee firms. According to Harris & Partners Inc., two class-action lawsuits against debt advisory firms have already resulted in settlements
“When federal regulators, industry bodies, and licensed professionals are aligned and escalating, but the advertising platform continues to monetize the same behaviour, that is where the system breaks down,” Harris said
Daily Hive has reached out to Meta for a comment and will update this story when it responds.