Credit Reports and Disputes in Canada

You can get a free copy of your credit report from both Equifax Canada and TransUnion Canada, and you have the right to dispute any item you believe is wrong. Credit bureaus must correct errors for free, and they investigate a dispute by checking the item with the lender that reported it.

A credit report is a record of your borrowing and repayment history, kept by private companies called credit reporting agencies or bureaus. In Canada there are two national bureaus: Equifax Canada and TransUnion Canada. Lenders, landlords and sometimes employers use these reports to judge how reliably you handle credit, so an error can affect whether you are approved and what you pay.

You can get your report for free

The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC) confirms that you may access your credit report online for free with both Equifax and TransUnion, and both bureaus also provide a free copy by mail, by telephone or in person. The free version is a full disclosure of your file; it does not include your credit score, which is a separate product. Because the two bureaus may hold different information about you, FCAC suggests ordering your report from both, and spacing the requests about six months apart so you can spot problems sooner.

Checking for errors

Review your report for the wrong address or date of birth, accounts that are not yours, payments shown as late that you made on time, and negative information that is older than the law allows. Errors can lower your score or lead a lender to turn you down, so it is worth checking at least once a year.

How the dispute process works

If you find an error, you have the right to dispute it. Use the correction form published by Equifax and by TransUnion, and send it to each bureau that holds the wrong information. The bureau must investigate by checking the item with the lender or organization that reported it. If the lender agrees there is an error, the bureau corrects your file; if the lender confirms the information is correct, it stays. The service is free, and you can speed it up by contacting the lender yourself and asking it to verify its records.

Escalating a dispute

If you are not satisfied with the result, ask to speak with someone more senior at the bureau or the lender. Federally regulated financial institutions must have a complaint procedure, including access to an external complaints body, and the FCAC publishes a tool to look up an institution's process. If the problem is with the bureau itself, the federal government does not regulate credit bureaus: you can complain to your provincial or territorial consumer affairs office. You can also ask the bureau to add a short consumer statement to your file, free of charge, to explain your side.