Credit Reports & Credit Scores

Credit reports and credit scores are part of your credit profile and are used by lenders to determine whether not they will extend credit to you and at what interest rates. Everyone who has ever borrowed a loan or has a credit card account or has leased a car has a credit history and a credit score.

Credit grantors such as banks, leasing companies, credit card companies and other businesses that extend credit to you send information about your payment habits and history to credit-reporting agencies. These agencies, or credit bureaus, are companies that compile information about your liabilities but also about your identity, residency and employment.

Credit grantors access this information to help them make a decision whether or not they will extend credit to you and to confirm that you are who you claim to be, as well as other personal information about you.

There are 2 major credit-reporting agencies in Canada; Equifax Canada Inc. and Trans Union of Canada, Inc. You can check your own credit status by accessing the information on line or by contacting either company and requesting written reports to be mailed to you.

The following are the web site addresses and contact information for each company:

Trans Union of Canada, Inc.
www.TransUnion.Ca – 1.800.663.9980

Equifax Canada Inc.
www.EConsumer.Equifax.Ca/index_en.html - 1.866.204.9044