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Alberta sets them, and every lender listed operates under them.
The cost. $14 for every $100 borrowed, including every fee and charge related to the loan, effective 1 January 2025 and matching the federal payday cap. Borrow $300 and you repay $342; borrow $500 and you repay $570.
The size and the term. A payday loan in Alberta is $1,500 or less, and the term cannot exceed 62 days.
The licence. Every payday lender in the province, online included, must hold an Alberta payday loan licence. A lender that cannot show one is not a lender to use.
Late payment. A lender can charge additional fees if the loan is not paid on time, which is why the one test that matters is whether you can repay in full on the date.
Four payday lenders in the Smarter Loans network: GoDay, iCash, Money Mart and My Canada Payday, each of which either publishes Alberta in its service area or holds an Alberta row in our records. Four of the eight payday lenders on the national payday loans in Canada page do not lend in Alberta, which is why the province lists four. All four pay out within 24 hours of approval and one within the hour; three set no minimum credit score and one considers poor credit; income minimums run from $800 to $1,500 a month. The same four serve Calgary and Edmonton.
$14 per $100 for up to 62 days is 14% for the period; as an annual rate it is far above the 35% federal cap on ordinary loans, which is legal because the cap carries a specific exemption for payday loans up to $1,500. For $300 you will repay on Friday, $42 is the whole cost and nothing cheaper exists in an hour. For anything you cannot repay in full on the date, a short-term loan repaid over two or three months under the 35% cap costs a fraction of a repeat payday loan: $500 over three months at the cap costs roughly $29 in interest against $70 for a payday loan. Alberta's high-cost credit regulation licenses those lenders separately, above 32% APR, so both products are regulated in the province. The same application reaches both kinds of lender.
On our platform in the first half of 2026, Albertans made 18.9% of everyday-scale applications under $1,500 across Canada and asked for $499 on average. Use that to check your own amount: a request around $500 is the ordinary case, the fee scales with every $100, and borrowing the bill rather than the limit is the single cheapest decision on this product.
A regular income of at least $800 to $1,500 a month depending on the lender, from any source that arrives on a fixed date; a bank account it is paid into; your online banking login, because the decision is made on your statements and the repayment is taken from the same account; and an Alberta address. No interview, no employment letter, and with three of the four no minimum score.
Reviewed by Vlad Sherbatov, Co-Founder and President, Smarter Loans. Last reviewed 18 September 2026. Lender figures are the lenders' published terms as checked August 2026; the short-term comparison is illustrative. Platform figures cover applications from 1 January to 30 June 2026.
$14 for every $100 borrowed, including every fee, effective 1 January 2025. A payday loan in Alberta is $1,500 or less and cannot run more than 62 days. Borrow $300 and you repay $342 on your next pay date.
Yes. Every payday lender in the province, online included, must hold an Alberta payday loan licence, and all four lenders listed hold one. A lender that cannot show its licence is not a lender to use.
All four lenders listed pay out within 24 hours of approval and one within the hour. Apply before your bank's e-transfer cutoff with your online banking login ready and the decision and the deposit can happen the same afternoon.
Yes. Three of the four lenders listed set no minimum credit score and one considers poor credit; the decision is made on your bank statements and your pay date. On our platform, everyday-scale applicants in Alberta ask for $499 on average.
If you cannot repay in full on your next pay date, yes: a short-term loan repaid over two or three months under the 35% federal cap costs a fraction of a repeat payday loan. Alberta licenses those lenders under its high-cost credit regulation above 32%, and one application reaches both kinds.
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