easyfinancial vs Fairstone (2026): not the same company

If you’re weighing easyfinancial vs Fairstone, the first thing to know is that they’re two different companies that charge almost the same price. Both lend to people with fair or poor credit, both have hundreds of branches, and both price unsecured personal loans just under Canada’s 35% legal limit. If Fairstone approves you, it’s the slightly better deal, because it lends more and tells you what you get back if you cancel its insurance. easyfinancial is the better bet if your credit history is thin, you can bring a co-applicant, or you own a home. The table above has the numbers as of October 2026.

Are easyfinancial and Fairstone the same company?

No. Both are instalment lenders for people the banks turn down, which is why they get mixed up, but they have different owners. easyfinancial is the direct lending brand of goeasy Ltd., a public company in Mississauga that also runs easyhome and LendCare. Fairstone’s loans are made by Fairstone Financial Inc., based in Montreal, which is a subsidiary of Fairstone Bank of Canada, a federally regulated bank.

Each one has a sibling that adds to the confusion. Fig, an online lender that isn’t making new loans for now, is part of Fairstone. LendCare, the financing a dealer or a store might offer you at the counter, is part of goeasy. For Fairstone’s history and regulators, see our page on whether Fairstone is legit.

The two companies are also having very different years. goeasy funded 70% fewer new loans (opens in a new tab) in the second quarter of 2026 than a year before. Most of the cut was dealer financing, but it also slowed easyfinancial to hold on to cash. Fairstone is growing: it took over Home Trust and Home Bank in 2025 and expects to finish buying Laurentian Bank on November 1, 2026. None of this changes a loan you already have. It can change how easily you get a new one.

easyfinancial: how it works, and what it costs

easyfinancial lends $500 to $20,000 unsecured, over 9 to 84 months, at 29.99% to 35% a year, according to its personal loans page (opens in a new tab). It says it approves people with no credit history at all, students and newcomers included. A co-applicant takes 2% off your rate. You can apply online, by phone or at more than 350 locations, and the money can arrive the same day.

Its advertised price includes insurance. The example in easyfinancial’s fine print is a $1,000 loan over 12 months at 29.99% that costs $1,501.08 to repay, and that total “includes optional Loan Protection Plans coverage.” The insurance isn’t required, and the Criminal Code’s 35% limit doesn’t count it as interest. Ask for the payment without it before you sign.

Homeowners can borrow $15,000 to $150,000 on a home equity loan, from 9.99%, over 6 to 20 years. In Quebec, the company trades as easyfinancière, and its unsecured loans there are listed at 35%, from $1,000.

Fairstone: how it works, and what it costs

Fairstone lends $500 to $25,000 unsecured, over 6 to 60 months, at 29.99% to 34.99% a year, according to its personal loans page (opens in a new tab). In British Columbia the unsecured rate is a flat 31.99%. Fairstone says it focuses on borrowers “in the fair to good credit score range,” so it tends to lend to people with somewhat better credit than easyfinancial does. It has more than 255 branches, and an online loan can be deposited in as little as 24 hours.

Fairstone’s fine print uses a plain example: a $10,000 unsecured loan at 34.99% over 60 months costs $354.84 a month in principal and interest. That’s about $21,290 over five years, more than twice what you borrowed. Its loan insurance is optional too, and its insurance page (opens in a new tab) says what happens if you change your mind. Cancel within 30 days of taking an unsecured loan and the whole premium comes back as a credit on the loan.

Homeowners have two options. Secured personal loans run $5,000 to $50,000 at 19.99% to 25.99% in its fine print, over 3 to 10 years, with administration, appraisal and legal fees and a penalty for paying early. Above $50,000, Fairstone offers second mortgages and refinancing at 14.99% to 20.25%.

Which is better for an unsecured personal loan?

Fairstone, narrowly, if it approves you. The rates are so close that price doesn’t separate them. What does is that Fairstone lends up to $25,000 against easyfinancial’s $20,000, and it publishes what you get back if you cancel the insurance. easyfinancial’s website doesn’t. In Quebec the gap is wider, because Fairstone’s range starts at 29.99% and easyfinancière lists 35%.

easyfinancial is the better bet in two cases:

• You have little or no credit history. easyfinancial says it approves people with none. Fairstone aims at fair to good credit, so a thin file has a better chance with easyfinancial.
• You can bring a co-applicant. easyfinancial takes 2% off the rate for one. Fairstone doesn’t advertise a discount like that.

The shorter terms cut both ways. Fairstone’s unsecured loans stop at 60 months, so the payment is higher than on an 84-month easyfinancial loan, but you pay interest for less time.

Which is better if you own a home?

easyfinancial, on the rates it publishes. Its home equity loans start at 9.99% and go up to $150,000. Fairstone’s secured personal loans start at 19.99%, and its mortgage loans at 14.99%. Those are starting rates and neither lender promises you’ll get one, so get a quote from both. Fairstone does publish the top of its ranges, 25.99% and 20.25%, which easyfinancial doesn’t.

Either way, the loan is secured on your home, so missed payments put the home at risk. If you have equity, ask your own bank or credit union about a home equity line of credit first. Those are priced off the prime rate, which sits far below either lender’s starting rate.

Should you get a quote from both?

Yes, and it costs nothing. Both lenders check your rate with a soft credit inquiry, which doesn’t show up to other lenders or affect your score. The hard check comes only if you go ahead with an application. Compare the two payments without insurance, and take the lower one.

Before either, check whether you’d qualify for less. If your credit has improved since you last borrowed, goPeer starts at 8.99%, and our list of easyfinancial alternatives lines up the other options. For a few hundred dollars over a few weeks, the loan apps ranked by cost are cheaper than either.

Saving for the next surprise bill

Most people borrow from these lenders for a bill that showed up before the money did: a car repair, a dental bill, a month that ran short. A few hundred dollars already set aside is what covers the next one without a 30% loan.

We make Lodavo, a free app that rewards you for saving. Connect the savings or chequing account you already use, and every $25 of your balance earns a free ticket in a weekly cash draw. Prizes go up to $10,000, and at least $100 goes to a user every week. Your money stays in your own account, so the cushion is there the day you need it.

Neither easyfinancial nor Fairstone paid to appear in this comparison.

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