I recently applied for a LOC with one of the big 5 Canadian banks.
Kelvin's history with LOCs:
-parent cosigned for student LOC when I went to school.
-spent ten years below the poverty line. Good months, the LOC was my checking account. My entire paycheck went there, and I bought groceries off it. Bad months had the LOC making payments on the CC which made payments on the LOC to avoid the "no payments made in 30 days" red flag.
-graduated! Got Real Job! Paid off LOC!
-had major falling out with family (gee, if only I'd never ever listened to them in the first place) and wanted to close down the student LOC as part of the separation.
I wanted another LOC because I'm still building my emergency fund (currently at 3 months and growing). So if something awful happens (Phoenix pay system, car crash, etc.) at least I've got the LOC. I've had this LOC for 6 months and haven't touched it. I hope to never need it.
As soon as I got it, I started getting alllllllll the ads for home renovation products. Apparently the only reason to get a LOC is to buy granite countertops.
@Finances_With_Purpose re: "Why would you assume large banks aren't predatory?" Welcome to Canada, where we respect bankers and actually believe the person behind the till is looking out for the financial well-being of the client. We're right to do so if we're talking to a "Financial Adviser" where "Adviser" is spelled with an "e". That title is regulated in Canada with licenses and standards.
"Financial Advisors", where "Advisor" is spelled with an "o", are not regulated and are just salespeople.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bank-s-deceptive-titles-put-investments-at-risk-1.4044702Speaking of the American/Canadian banking divide, apparently some Americans believe our housing market is overinflated (it totally is) and that this means Canada is on the brink of a 2008 style meltdown (HAHAHAHAHAHAHA). They clearly have no idea about how our financial industry is regulated, how the CMHC operates, how our banks are required to protect their balance sheets, etc. We might have a recession, but it won't be the bloodbath that was 2008. Our "socialist" government has made sure of it.