About

Would it surprise you to know that there are Canadian pawnshops that are older than Canada? It’s true, the pawn industry helped build our country, just like we continue to assist people today. Often termed “The People’s Bank” pawnshops support clients that are overlooked by main stream banking. Here is some information about the industry in Canada.

The Canadian Pawn Industry is a small but vital service sector. A survey of active Google listings shows there are ~700 pawnbrokers across Canada. With an average of 6.2 employees each the industry provides jobs to 4,340 people. In a broader scale, a survey of CPA membership reveals that each location assists ~3,800 pawn clients yearly. On average, each client does 2 transactions per year. This supports the fact that pawn services are discretionary and not habitual. In short: our clients are regular people faced with irregular circumstances: you can learn more about them HERE.

The C.P.A. reviewed almost 190,000 transactions in 2022/23 and found that the average Canadian pawn is $151.31. In fact, 80% of all pawns written were below $200 in value. This is the true definition of micro-lending. The data suggests that pawns are used to address unexpected needs and not discretionary (or frivolous) purchases. For example, $150 won’t buy a new TV but it does fill a tank of gas and provide money for lunch.

Canadian statistics show that roughly 75% of pledged items are redeemed by the client. This aligns with trends from the U.S National Pawn Association as well as data from public companies.

Interestingly enough, data also shows that un-redeemed items tend to be significantly lower in value than redeemed items. This strongly supports the position that they were ‘disposable’ to the client.

The key takeaways are that clients utilize pawn services to address critical cash flow issues and that they recover their items within a short period of time having resolved that issue.