Credit reporting
Your credit report is a summary of your credit history. It starts when you borrow money for the first time. Lenders send information about your accounts to credit reporting agencies to be included on your credit report. Businesses, organizations and individuals can use your credit report to help make decisions about many things including lending money to you, collecting a debt, renting a property, or offering you a job.
Your credit report contains a lot of personal information so it is important to understand what can be reported and who can have access to this information.
The law covers what can be included in a credit report and who can see it. Individuals and businesses can have a credit report; the law applies to both.
Read the Business Practices and Consumer Protection Act.
What is included on my credit report?
- Information to accurately identify you such as your name, address or employer.
- Information about financial obligations. Your report will include the name of any lenders, the amount owed, and details about payment history.
- Financial and legal information about debts that have been sent to collection agencies, bankruptcies or court judgments.
- Any requests for information from creditors or other businesses and individuals.
Who can see my credit report?
Nobody can access your credit report without your consent. Anyone who wants to view your credit report must be able to prove that you have given them permission. Normally, when you seek credit, you are agreeing that the lender can view your credit report. This is usually in the fine print.
There are certain situations where your credit information may be released to law enforcement agencies, or the courts (by court order).
If you are worried that someone is accessing your credit report without your permission, contact the credit reporting agency and ask them to clarify who has access to your report.
If you still have concerns, please submit a complaint so we can review it and provide guidance on next steps.
What if the information about my debt is wrong?
If there is a debt on your credit report that you have already paid or you don’t feel you owe, you have the right to dispute it. By disputing a debt, you’re telling the creditor and the debt collection agency, if you are contacted by one, that you don’t believe you owe the debt and you want the issue resolved in the courts.
It’s important to keep the credit reporting agency aware of any steps you take to dispute a debt on your credit report. The credit reporting agency is responsible for reporting the most reliable information and they must confirm the credibility of any debts owing.
Here are the steps to request a debt is removed from your credit report:
- Notify the creditor and collection agency you are disputing the debt by using our official form. Send the form to both parties in a way that gives you proof of delivery (email, mail, or fax). Keep copies for your records and give the collection agency three to five business days to process your request.
- Let the credit reporting agency know you have taken this initial step and you are working with the creditor to have the debt removed.
- If the above steps do not lead to a resolution within a reasonable time frame, go back to credit reporting agency and use their dispute resolution process to outline your steps so far and explain that the creditor has not removed the debt. The credit reporting agency must confirm the credibility of the debt and only report the most accurate information available.
- If that step is unsuccessful, please submit a complaint so we can review it and provide guidance on next steps.
Please note we have no authority over how credit scores are calculated and that is not an area we can assist with. Learn more about credit reports and scores with this information from the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada.
What if I owe the debt but I want it removed?
Credit reports include information about your financial obligations, including the name of any lenders, the amount owed, and details about payment history.
You cannot remove legitimate debt that you owe from your credit report.
However, you do have the option to enter a 100-word statement explaining any relevant information. See the section below for more information.
How do I add a statement to my credit report?
You have the right to enter a 100-word statement to your credit report. This statement will give you the chance to explain any information you feel is relevant to the information in your report. You can submit your statement by sending it directly to the credit reporting agency.
If the credit reporting agency does not allow you to submit a 100-word explanation on your credit report, you can contact us for further help.
Read our consumer tips on credit reporting.
Links to external resources:
Credit reports and scores (from the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada)
Buying goods on credit, credit cards and credit bureaus (from Clicklaw and the Canadian Bar Association)
