Estimated reading time: 8 minutes
Learn how to order your free credit report or score in Canada and understand what’s on it. Please don’t wait until it’s too late to take control of your financial future.
Your Credit Report Is A Diary Of Your Financial History
When I asked my fans if they had ordered their credit report or knew what was on it, the answer was an astounding no for many of them.
Most people in Canada have no idea how to order a free credit report or credit score.
Today, I will show you just how easy that is and how easy it is to get there without costing you a dollar.
Some fans didn’t even care about seeing their credit report because they didn’t care.
However, for the remainder of the contributors to the post, knowing their financial history was crucial.
The worst thing about being uninformed about credit is when something goes wrong.
It’s always untimely and can be stressful to sort out discrepancies in a credit report.
Not Knowing Your Credit Score Can Be Stressful
Our friend moved into an apartment and wanted to get some furniture from the Buy Now, Pay Later place.
However, she discovered that her credit report came back with an unhealthy score and a problem with a past payment, so she was denied credit.
When I asked my Facebook community about their credit report, I learned that most had no idea where to order their credit report and credit score.
I asked this to gauge whether they knew everything they needed to learn about their finances.
Canadians must realize that we should budget and spend no matter how much money is earned.
Even wealthy folks go broke because they think they have infinite money.
This entails understanding financial health and what kind of spender you are.
Sure, being frugal, using coupons, and shopping at second-hand clothing stores are fine, but that doesn’t make you financially responsible.
If we don’t know where we are financially, how can we plan for our future?
Why You Should Order Your Canadian Credit Report
An annual credit report is a record of your credit activities in Canada.
If someone does a credit report check and your credit score is not up to snuff, you may not get that loan or credit card you hoped to get.
Credit cards can serve a rewarding purpose if used correctly, but having too much credit will also affect your credit score.
Although the credit report may be free, you might have to pay a fee to get your score, which seems reasonable.
On the other hand, you may get a free credit score and have to pay for a report.
Knowledge saves you all the hassles if you take care of it today and every year after that.
Moving To Canada With No Credit History
When I moved to Canada from the UK in 2007 as a permanent resident, I had ‘ZERO’ Canadian credit history, and it plain out sucked.
I was far from even touching a good credit score of 700.
It didn’t matter how much money I had. No score meant no credit, full stop.
I’m not sure how it happened, but Sears was so kind as to give me a $500 limit Sears MasterCard, which I guarded with my life.
I then used the low-limit credit card for all purchases and paid it off at the end of each month.
My goal was to start building a credit history so we could start our lives together.
Importance Of A Credit History In Canada
Without a Canadian Credit History, I was unable to:
- Get a Mortgage or rent
- Get a bank credit card
- Lease/Buy a car/truck
- Bank Loan
- Line of Credit
- Get a job (In some cases, when reasonably required, you may be asked in a job interview for a credit check to be completed, for instance, one where you may be privy to customer credit card/financial information.)
The list goes on, so I was out of luck and had to set long-term goals to build my credit.
Although my wife had lived in Canada all her life, I still needed to establish myself in the financial system to be safe with credit and loans.
Over the years, my credit score has increased dramatically, and I was happy as a pig in manure because it’s not easy starting a new life in a country where everything is foreign.
Once my credit score was acceptable, Mrs. CBB wanted us to order our credit reports to check them.
I had no idea what she was talking about, but I obliged because I trusted she knew what she was talking about.
She wanted us to go over our credit reports to make sure no one was using our name for credit that was not authorized, which was called identity theft.
Four Things That Identity Thieves Don’t Want Us To Know
- Our trash is their treasure– Always shred all documents and mail with important info.
- Facebook is a gold mine. If they want to know everything about you, they can check Facebook. Ensure your profile is private, and don’t give too much personal information online.
- Email Hacking: They will hack your email to get any family and friends’ info to use in their ploy to get more. Use a highly secure password to create your email accounts with numbers, symbols, and letters.
- Job Wanted Ads: They will post jobs and ask you to send your resume and a money transfer to get your personal information. Please don’t give out personal information over the phone or via email unless you know the recipient and it’s secure. Even then, I’d be leery.
What Is A Good Credit Score For Canadians?
Now, you can get your Credit Score number for free in Canada!
Equifax Canada says a credit score between 600-750 and above 700 is good.
If your credit score does not fall in this category, find out why and work on fixing the problem to build your credit history again and increase your credit score.
If you aren’t budgeting your money, I suggest downloading my free budget spreadsheet, and starting today, you can also get my free 51-page Budget Binder.
This is what helped us become debt-free and now mortgage-free.
For more information: What is a good credit score?
Trans Union Canada is another excellent source for finding your credit score and getting your credit report.
How To Order A Free Canadian Credit Report
Some of the most common questions I get asked now are
- How do I get a free credit report?
- What is the difference between a credit score and a credit report in Canada?
The great news is there are a few ways to order your free credit report.
Top 5 Credit Reporting Agencies in Canada
Canada’s top credit report agencies are Equifax, Borrowell, Trans Union, and Experian.
- Trans Union of Canada- For all provinces except Quebec, Fill out the form for your free report.
- Equifax Canada: Fill out the form for your free credit report.
- Borrowell Canada offers a Free Credit Score.
- Find out your Free Credit Score at Credit Karma Canada.
- Credit Verify is a consumer-facing credit report product that focuses on helping customers needing credit education and looking for the best product to rebuild their credit.
- Clear Score is a Free Credit Score And Report App.
If you don’t have time to wait 5-10 days to receive your free credit report by mail, you can opt to pay for your credit report for instant access through TransUnion.
The cost for this service is: (Note: these prices are subject to change from the time this post was written)
- Trans Union Credit Profile $ 14.95
- Credit Score $7.95
- You can order your Equifax Credit Report online for immediate access for only $19.95
Protect yourself, protect your identity, protect your credit.
Order your credit report once a year, I’m glad we do.
There’s no excuse, Canada; Your credit report is FREE!
Discussion: Where did you order your free credit report from?
Please leave your comments and questions below.
Thanks for reading,
Mr. CBB
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You raise a very good point. I started trying to get mine (and my husband’s) once a year, once identity theft started to make the news. I am impatient and just do the online route – the frugal choice would be to do it by snail mail!
I would be terrified to find out that identity theft had happened to me. No matter what way anyone gets the report it should be visited from time to time to make sure everything is ok. Thanks for your post mycanuckbuck Mr.CBB
Great article! I loved the insight and advice given. In addition, your blogging style is very fun to read. If you have enough time kindly check out my new blog and let me know what you think.
Hey Mr. CBB! I was wondering if you could help me out.
I checked my score using Borrowell like you suggested. Super quick and easy to use 🙂 Thanks so much for the recommendation.
I have a good score, and only one item on my report affecting it; collections in the amount of $1654
(The original amount was $798 and the account was ‘closed’ in 2017)
I know that it would stay on my report for 7 years, and to be honest, it wasn’t worth my time in the beginning to go through the hassle of staying on the phone for hours on end arguing with Rogers for an absurd $800 phone bill. I simply didn’t pay it and they lost my business after one simple phone call of realizing it would take much more to resolve.
Now that I have a few extra minutes, is there a ‘best practice’ for negotiating to have this completely removed from my report?
Thanks again!