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Here you will learn about what factors affect your credit score rating, what your credit score rating has an effect on and why it is important to be aware of what is making up yours, as well as ways to improve your credit score and some different websites where you can check yours.

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Although credit scores and their titles (“good”, “very good” etc.) can vary a bit from one website to another, this image gives a general guideline as to what your score is and which category it falls into.

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In this video, he talks again about factors affecting your credit score, but he explains things a little bit differently than some of the other information you have seen so far. I also included this video because he talks about another one of these websites where you can go to check your score for free which is through Borrowell, and I have added that website as well. He tells you what the average score is in Canada and explains a bit better about ways to improve your score including setting up automatic payments every month to pay off the whole balance.

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Do you know your credit score? |  Bruce Sellery on Breakfast Television Canada

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This is a really good government website that gives you details about what is on your credit report and how long it stays on your credit report as well as information on Canada’s 2 biggest credit reporting agencies (TransUnion & Equifax), the laws around credit reporting and fraud, how to obtain your free credit report detailing everything making up your score to date, how to prevent identity theft and how to improve or maintain your credit score.

I chose to include this site because it has a lot of the very basic but useful information that every Canadian should know about including how to protect yourself from identity theft.

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Overview

A credit report includes:

your name, age and address

your job and where you work

what debts you have

your paying habits (e.g., do you usually pay on time or are your payments late, do you only make minimum payments)

A credit report does not include:

a bankruptcy discharged more than 7 years ago, unless you have declared bankruptcy more than once

the payment or non-payment of taxes or fines after 7 years

convictions for crimes after 7 years

criminal charges against you that were dropped

Credit reporting agencies

Consumer reporting agencies create and maintain credit reports. They collect information from various sources, like banks, credit card companies, mortgage companies and other creditors.

In Ontario, there are two major consumer reporting agencies:

Agencies must register with the Government of Ontario.

The law

In Ontario, the Consumer Reporting Act sets out:

what a consumer reporting agency can report

how a consumer's credit report can be used

when someone can request credit report

what consumers can do if their files contain any information that is wrong or incomplete

The Consumer Reporting Act recognizes that businesses, landlords and employers need to have correct information. At the same time it ensures:

that agencies collect, maintain and report your credit and personal information responsibly

your right to know what is being reported about you and to whom

your right to correct information about yourself that is inaccurate

A person who is found guilty of knowingly providing a consumer reporting agency with false or misleading information could be fined up to $25,000 or imprisoned for up to 1 year, or both. A corporation that is found guilty of the same offence could be fined up to $100,000.
Descriptive transcript: Know Your Rights: Credit Reporting
Who can request a copy

By law, consumer reporting agencies must get your consent before they can share a copy of your report. They can provide a copy of your credit report to:

lenders and creditors

insurance companies

landlords

potential employers (e.g., to assess applications for loans, lines of credit, insurance, apartment rentals or employment)

If a person denies you credit or increases a charge or fee - and if you request it within 60 days - you must be told:

the nature and the source of the information

the name and address of the consumer reporting agency reporting the information

Free credit check

We recommend that you check your credit report at least once a year. Nothing in your file should be a surprise to you.

To get a free copy of your report, contact:

You may want to contact both agencies because they might have different information on file. Your credit history and personal information must be easy to read.

If your credit report includes any information that is wrong or is not familiar to you, it could be a sign that an identity thief is using your personal information.

Correcting errors

To correct information in your credit report that is inaccurate or incomplete, you:

can ask the consumer reporting agency to correct the error

may need to give proof to the agency that the information is not correct

may ask the consumer reporting agency to notify anyone who received a copy of the incorrect report in the past 6 months to 1 year (depending on the type of information that was corrected)

Once the error is corrected, the consumer reporting agency must notify anyone who received a copy of the report that had the error in the past 60 days.

If your problem is still not solved, see the steps to file a complaint with us.

We will ask the consumer reporting agency to provide more details about your complaint, and may order corrections on your file. We must have your written permission before your personal file can be accessed.

Prevent identity theft

If you want to be cautious, you can also pay a fee and get an alert to be included in your credit file. This alert warns a person to verify the identity of anyone who claims to be you.

A consumer reporting agency must put an alert in your file if you ask for one.

Consumer reporting agencies may charge a maximum fee of $5.00 to include this alert in your file. They must give this alert to anyone who receives information from your file.

When a person receives this alert, he or she must take reasonable steps to verify that he or she is actually dealing with you before proceeding with certain types of transactions, like:

extending credit or loaning money

entering into a rental contract for housing or an employment contract

underwriting insurance

An example of a reasonable step that a person might take to verify that he or she is actually dealing with you is contacting you at the telephone number that you provided to the consumer reporting agency.
What to do if you're a victim of identity theft
Avoid credit repair scams

Be wary of companies promising to "fix" bad credit.

Some credit repair companies claim that they can get negative information ( e.g., a bankruptcy) taken away from your credit report if you pay them a fee. Fees are usually large and paid in advance of any service, which is illegal.

Be aware that:

it's illegal for credit repairers to accept advance payment or to charge a fee unless their services lead to a real improvement in your credit file

it's illegal for credit repairers to say that they can improve your credit file before looking at your consumer report

credit repair companies must provide you with a written contract

you have a 10-day cooling-off period to cancel a contract for credit repair services (this 10-day period starts when you get a copy of your contract)

you can take a company to court if you cancel a contract during the 10-day cooling-off period and they don't refund you for any money that you have paid them

it's illegal for credit repairers to make false or misleading claims

Maintain good credit

The only way to improve a poor credit rating is to pay your debts and allow time to pass to show that your payment habits have improved.

Having a good credit record may make it easier for you to get a loan, a credit card or rent an apartment.

Here are some tips for maintaining good credit:

always pay your bills on time (if you have a reason for being late with your payment, let the company know)

don't go over your credit card limit

don't apply for credit too often

understand the total cost of everything you buy and add up monthly charges

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A credit report includes: your name, age and address your job and where you work what debts you have your paying habits (e.g., do you usually pay on time or are your payments late, do you only make minimum payments) A credit report does not include: a bankruptcy discharged more than 7 years ago, unless you have declared bankruptcy more than once the payment or non-payment of taxes or fines after 7 years convictions for crimes after 7 years criminal charges against you that were dropped Consumer reporting agencies create and maintain credit reports.

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This video is from the same person who did the one above and I find he does a great job explaining things in an easy to follow way. Not all of the credit score websites he discusses are applicable to us in Canada but he does talk about my favourite ones that I included the website for, Credit Karma, and I found the way he shows them to you and explains what information you will find to be very helpful, especially if you haven’t ever been to one of these sites and/or thought much about your credit score before and how to access it for free.

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How to Check Your Credit Score For Free Online

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I found this video easy to follow and full of great tips on improving your credit score or just maintaining it. He explains which factors affect your credit score the most and gives you some great tips on how to make them work for you to watch your score go up. He taught me that you should never close an old credit account even if you open a new one and that keeping it open even if it isn’t going to be used (except for maybe once in a while just to charge something to it and pay it off right away to make your score go up) can really boost your credit.

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In this video, he talks about how often you should be checking your credit report to ensure the information is accurate and that you don't see mistakes or any inaccurate information which could mean identity fraud. He also talks about what steps you should take if you do notice anything on your credit report that should not be there or any accounts you know that you did not open. He also briefly explains the importance of checking your credit report because of the impact it could have on your life with things such as renting an apartment and paying higher interest rates if your credit score is low.

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Know Your Rights: Credit Reporting | Connaissez vos droits : Évaluation du crédit

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In this image, we see what factors effect your credit score and whether it has a low, medium or high impact and it also gives us an idea of what we need to adjust to achieve the score we want. For example we can see that if I’ve just applied for 10 credit cards and have only had one credit account open for a year, my credit score is going to be very low and to increase my score, I would have to keep my one account open for a lot longer and not apply for any more credit, at least until my score has recovered from all of those inquiries.

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I have also included this website because it is another one that is free to sign up for and get your score and report and is fairly accurate. With Borrowell, your report is pulled from Equifax though and so the score tends to be a bit different than the one you would see on Credit Karma who pulls the report from TransUnion. You will see in the report on Borrowell which is also quite detailed that some things may vary from your detailed report on Credit Karma and some things on one may not be on the other. Having both of these accounts (Borrowell & Credit Karma) gives you a better chance of keeping an eye on reports with both major credit companies and to be alert for anything out of the ordinary.

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Your credit score is an important part of your overall financial health.

In fact, your credit score can be a deciding factor in whether you'll be approved for a personal loan, a car loan, or a mortgage.
Get Started
This won't affect your credit score!

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Your credit score is an important part of your overall financial health. In fact, your credit score can be a deciding factor in whether you'll be approved for a personal loan, a car loan, or a mortgage. Get Started This won't affect your credit score!

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This is one of two main websites that I use to keep up with my credit score. This one is my favourite because not only is it free and one of the most accurate (compared to actually going straight to TransUnion or Equifax websites and paying to check your score) but it includes a detailed list of what exactly is making up your credit score and even updates monthly and shows your monthly payment history for each of your accounts and also shows any credit inquiries that have had an effect on your account. Credit Karma’s report is from TransUnion and so your score on this site will be very similar if not the same to your TransUnion score.

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Instantly receive your free credit score and credit report card online. Free credit tools to track and optimize your credit score. No credit card needed & no hidden fees

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This website I found really great as it has a lot of really useful information and gives a lot more detail than the government website does. On this webpage you will find a more detailed list of how long different pieces of information stay on your credit report and after how long you will see something removed from your report. It also gives some really good information about how a low credit score can impact your life and goes into a bit more detail about the things that can have a good impact on your score as well as what factors can drop your score that you might not have even considered.

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Credit Rating 101 - Debt Canada: Your Canadian Credit Education Centre

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We have collected information from both of the consumer reporting agencies (credit bureaus), as well as our own research to try to provide a full picture on credit files and credit scores, including those little known "insider" secrets.