A Canadian licensed insolvency trustee is calling on Meta (NASDAQ:META) to explain why illegal debt-relief advertising continues to run 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., said unlicensed debt advisors posing as legitimate insolvency professionals are using Facebook and Instagram ads to target Canadians in financial distress, costing consumers and creditors millions of dollars while undermining Canada’s regulated insolvency system.
“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 confirms that he has repeatedly contacted Meta’s head of public policy for Canada over the past year, raising concerns about illegal debt-relief advertising and providing examples, links, and federal regulatory guidance. Aside from a single phone call over a year ago, in which Harris says Meta acknowledged that illegal advertising should be removed, his follow-up attempts have gone unanswered, and the ads remain live.
“This has been raised directly, professionally, and persistently,” Harris said. “There was a clear acknowledgment that illegal advertising should not be allowed. The failure is not a lack of information. It is a lack of action.”
Canadians paid or agreed to pay almost $20 million in 2023 to unregulated debt advisors for services that should have been free through a licensed insolvency trustee. The Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy says the real number is likely even higher.
Between 2023 and 2025, the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy released several warnings, including a national scam alert and enforcement updates. These reports highlighted how some debt advisors falsely present themselves as licensed insolvency trustees, claim they can handle consumer proposals, and use misleading ads to charge fees to Canadians in financial trouble.
While the OSB and the Canadian Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Professionals have taken increasingly aggressive enforcement action, Harris says the regulator’s powers are limited.
“The OSB does not have the authority to shut these advertisers down at the source,” Harris said. “They have been forced to act indirectly by investigating trustees, launching professional conduct reviews, and applying pressure within the regulated system. That approach has led to some closures, but many bad actors simply reappear under new names using the same advertising channels.”
As of August 2025, the OSB reported ongoing professional conduct investigations into 32 individual licensed insolvency trustee licenses and 13 corporate trustee firms, alongside criminal referrals and successful convictions in related cases. Two class-action lawsuits against debt advisory firms have already resulted in settlements.
Despite this, Harris says advertising for unlicensed debt-relief services continues to appear across Meta platforms, often using generic or misleading names designed to appear official or government-backed.
“When federal regulators, industry bodies, and licensed professionals are aligned and escalating, but the advertising platform continues to monetize the same behavior, that is where the system breaks down,” Harris said.
By contrast, Harris notes that Google has implemented additional safeguards in this sector by requiring advertisers offering insolvency-related services to verify their licensing status, an approach he describes as imperfect but materially more responsible.
The OSB and CAIRP have urged Canadians to bypass paid debt consultants and speak directly with a Licensed Insolvency Trustee, warning that consumers do not need to pay third parties to access insolvency relief.
“These ads do not just harm individuals at their most vulnerable,” Harris said. “They damage creditors, distort the insolvency process, and erode public trust. This fight has been ongoing, supported by regulators and the profession, and so far it has led nowhere because the ads remain online.”
Harris is calling on Meta to publicly explain why repeated warnings have failed to result in meaningful enforcement and what steps it will take to prevent illegal debt-relief advertising in Canada.
