Yes, Canada has a credit score. Two national credit bureaus, Equifax Canada and TransUnion Canada, keep a file on your borrowing history and generate a three-digit score that runs from 300 at the low end to 900 at the top.1Equifax Canada. What Is a Good Credit Score? Lenders use that score, along with the details in your report, to decide whether to approve a mortgage, car loan, or credit card, and at what interest rate. The system works much like the one in the United States, but the two are separate: a Canadian score lives only in the Canadian bureaus’ records.
Credit reporting in Canada is governed by provincial consumer reporting legislation and by federal privacy law, primarily the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). There is no single national credit reporting statute.
The Two Bureaus and Why Your Scores Can Differ
Equifax Canada and TransUnion Canada operate independently.2Government of Canada. Getting Your Credit Report and Credit Score Banks, credit card issuers, and other lenders may report to one, the other, or both. Because the underlying data can differ, your Equifax score and your TransUnion score can also differ, sometimes by a meaningful amount. Checking both files at least once a year gives you the fullest picture of what lenders see.
What Counts as a Good Score
There is no official government classification, but the tiers Equifax publishes are the ones lenders generally work from:
- Below 560: poor. Approvals are difficult and terms are unfavorable.
- 560 to 659: fair. Approval is possible, usually with higher interest rates.
- 660 to 724: good. Standard credit products are accessible.
- 725 to 759: very good. You qualify for competitive rates.
- 760 and above: excellent. You are in the strongest position to negotiate.
A score of 660 or higher generally opens the door to mainstream lending on reasonable terms.1Equifax Canada. What Is a Good Credit Score?
How the Score Is Built
Five categories of behavior feed the calculation, each weighted differently.3Equifax Canada. How Are Credit Scores Calculated?
- Payment history, about 35%. Whether you pay on time is the largest single factor. Late payments, missed payments, and accounts sent to collections all pull the score down.
- Credit utilization, about 30%. This is how much of your available credit you are using. A $7,000 balance on a $10,000 limit is 70% utilization, and high utilization hurts even if every payment is on time.
- Length of credit history, about 15%. Older accounts help. Closing your oldest card can shorten your average account age and lower your score.
- Credit mix, about 10%. A combination of credit types, such as a card, a car loan, and a mortgage, shows lenders you can handle different obligations.
- New credit inquiries, about 10%. Each application for new credit produces a hard inquiry, and several within a short window signal risk.
Hard Inquiries Versus Soft Inquiries
When a lender pulls your report to decide on an application, that is a hard inquiry, it appears on your report, and it can lower your score temporarily.4Equifax Canada. Understanding Hard Inquiries on Your Credit Report When you check your own score, or a company reviews your file for a pre-approved offer, that is a soft inquiry and has no effect on your score. Checking your own credit as often as you like is safe.
What the Report Does Not Contain
Your credit report does not include your income, cash or cheque purchases, medical history, ethnicity, political affiliations, or criminal record. Business accounts are excluded unless you are personally liable. Rent and utility payments generally do not appear either, though an unpaid utility account sent to collections will show up as a collection record.
Getting Your Report and Score for Free
Both bureaus let you access your credit report online for free, and both currently refresh it monthly.2Government of Canada. Getting Your Credit Report and Credit Score You can also request a copy by mail, which takes longer.
The score itself is a separate product from the report, and here the two bureaus differ. Equifax provides your credit score online for free alongside your report.5Equifax Canada. Check Your Equifax Consumer Credit Report TransUnion provides free scores only to consumers who live in Quebec; outside Quebec, its score is behind a paid subscription.2Government of Canada. Getting Your Credit Report and Credit Score
To pull your file, you will need your full legal name, date of birth, and current and previous addresses so the bureau can match you to the right record. You do not have to give your Social Insurance Number to request a credit report; the bureaus may ask, and you can decline.6Government of Canada. Protecting Your SIN Online, you will answer security questions drawn from your credit history. By mail, include copies of two pieces of government-issued ID.
Several free apps also show your score as a soft inquiry. Borrowell pulls Equifax data; Credit Karma pulls TransUnion data. Using both covers both bureaus at no cost.
How Long Negative Information Stays
Bad marks eventually fall off, but many take years. A first-time bankruptcy stays on your report for six years after discharge at both Equifax and TransUnion, though TransUnion extends this to seven years in Newfoundland and Labrador, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, and Quebec.7Government of Canada. How Long Information Stays on Your Credit Report Multiple bankruptcies remain for 14 years. Late payments, collection accounts, and other derogatory items generally sit on the file for six to seven years from the date of last activity, with the retention period varying by province. When the period ends, the bureau removes the item automatically.
Fixing Errors
Mistakes on a credit file can cost you real money through higher rates or refused applications. The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada sets out a clear path for correcting them.8Government of Canada. Checking for Errors on Your Credit Report
Start by gathering documents that back up your version of events: receipts, bank statements, and account records. File a dispute directly with the bureau using its online form. The bureau will contact the lender that reported the item and verify. Contacting the lender yourself can speed things up. If the outcome is not right, ask to escalate within the bureau or the financial institution, and, as a last step, submit a brief written consumer statement that gets attached to the file for free.
Equifax generally completes investigations within 15 to 20 days for online disputes and 20 to 25 days for mailed disputes.9Equifax Canada. Dispute Equifax Credit Report TransUnion generally finishes within 30 days. If the same error appears on both reports, file with both, because a correction at one bureau does not carry to the other.
If You Are New to Canada
Credit history from another country does not transfer with you. Each country runs its own reporting system, and the data is not shared across borders. A newcomer starts with no Canadian file and needs to build one by using products that report to Equifax or TransUnion Canada, such as a secured credit card. Nova Credit and Equifax’s Global Consumer Credit File allow newcomers from some countries to share foreign credit data with participating Canadian lenders, though coverage is limited. Scotiabank, RBC, and BMO are among the institutions accepting foreign credit information through these services. A solid Canadian file can typically be built within 12 to 18 months of on-time payments, low balances relative to limits, and restraint on new applications.