Promissory note generator.

What a promissory note is

A promissory note is a written promise to repay money. The person who borrows (the borrower, or maker) signs it and the person who lends (the lender, or payee) keeps it. In Canada the Bills of Exchange Act describes a promissory note as an unconditional promise in writing, made by one person to another and signed by the maker, to pay on demand or at a fixed or determinable future time a sum certain in money to a specified person or bearer. In everyday terms: it names who owes, who is owed, how much and when, and the borrower signs.

This generator produces that document as a PDF in your browser. Nothing is uploaded.

What the generated note contains

You enter the borrower and lender names and addresses, the agreement date, the principal amount, the annual interest rate, the payment schedule, the maturity date and the governing jurisdiction. The PDF is titled Promissory Note and reads, in substance: for value received, the borrower promises to pay to the order of the lender the principal sum together with interest at the stated rate per annum. Five numbered clauses follow:

• Payment terms: repayment in the schedule you described, with the full principal and accrued interest due on or before the maturity date.
• Prepayment: the borrower may prepay all or part at any time without penalty, applied first to accrued interest, then principal.
• Default: if a payment is missed and not fixed within ten days after written notice, the lender may declare the whole unpaid balance and accrued interest immediately due.
• Governing law: the jurisdiction you entered, which opens as Ontario, Canada.
• Waivers: the borrower waives presentment, demand, protest and notice of dishonour, and any waiver by the lender must be in writing.

Signature lines for the borrower and lender close the page.

Filling it in so it can be enforced

The principal, rate and schedule boxes are free text, so be precise.

• Principal: write the amount and currency, and consider adding words, for example "$10,000 CAD (ten thousand Canadian dollars)".
• Rate: state the rate as an annual percentage ("6% per annum"). Then see the section on interest below.
• Payment schedule: "Equal monthly instalments" is a vague placeholder. Replace it with exact amounts and dates, such as "12 equal monthly instalments of $860.66 on the first day of each month starting 2026-12-01".
• Maturity date: the date the final payment is due. The note says everything unpaid is due by then.

Worked example

The form opens with a 10,000 dollar principal at 6 percent, repaid in equal monthly instalments. Over twelve months, simple interest on the whole 10,000 would be 600 dollars. If the borrower instead repays the loan in twelve equal monthly instalments that reduce the balance as they go, the instalment works out to about 860.66 dollars and the total interest to about 328 dollars (the first month's interest is 50.00 on the full balance, and it shrinks each month as the principal falls). Both are reasonable, but they are different deals, which is why the note should say which one you mean. This tool does not calculate the instalment for you.

Interest rules to know in Canada

• State the annual rate. The Interest Act, section 4, says that where a written contract sets interest at a rate for a period of less than a year, such as per month, no interest above five percent per annum can be charged or recovered unless the contract expressly states the yearly equivalent. The generated note says "per annum", so keep your wording in annual terms.
• Do not go over the criminal rate. Section 347 of the Criminal Code defines the criminal rate as an annual percentage rate of interest that exceeds 35 percent on the credit advanced, and the definition of interest takes in fees, fines, penalties and commissions as well as the stated rate. Late fees count towards the total.
• Mind the tax side. If you are lending to or borrowing from a relative, or the loan carries a low rate, check how interest is treated for tax before you sign.

Signing, copies and limitation periods

Have both parties sign two copies and each keep one. The Electronic Commerce Act, 2000 of Ontario states that it does not apply to negotiable instruments, so if you intend the note to be a negotiable instrument, signing it by hand on paper is the safer course. A scanned or typed signature is fine for many private loans, but you should not assume electronic signing satisfies every legal requirement.

Enforcement has a clock. In Ontario the Limitations Act, 2002 sets a basic limitation period of two years from the day the claim was discovered. For a note that has fallen into default that generally means acting promptly. The period and the starting point can differ in other provinces and for different kinds of claim.

What the note does not do

It does not create security over any asset, name a guarantor, calculate interest, record payments, set late fees or provide for collection costs. A secured loan, a business loan or a mortgage needs different documents. Keep your own record of every payment, ideally with the receipt generator, and add signatures with the sign PDF tool.

Related tools

If you are lending to buy or sell something, the bill of sale generator records the item, and the contractor agreement generator covers work done for pay. For repayment maths, see the loan calculators in the calculators section.