Guide to Equifax Canada Free Credit Report
What You Should Know
- You can check your Equifax Canada credit report and credit score for free once per month.
- To request your free Equifax Canada credit report, you can do so online, over the phone, by mail, or in-person at an Equifax office location.
- Equifax Canada offers paid subscription services, starting at $19.95 per month, that offers identity theft protection and credit monitoring services.
About Equifax Canada
Equifax Canada is a credit bureau that collects, records, and reports the credit activities of individuals and businesses in Canada. The information that they collect makes up your credit report. Equifax Canada then calculates your credit score based on various scoring models using the data in your credit report. There are two credit bureaus in Canada, with the other being TransUnion Canada. Lenders and financial institutions might only use one or the other, and credit scores may differ between them.
Lenders look at your credit report and credit score to see how likely you are to pay your debts on time. Since your credit is important, borrowers should check their credit report often to make sure that there aren’t any errors that could be hurting your credit score, as well as to protect against identity theft. Checking your credit report is especially important for those looking to apply for a mortgage, loan, or credit card in the near future.
Equifax Canada Contact 💡
For general questions, contact Equifax Canada by phone at 1-800-871-3250. They’re open from 9 a.m to 5 p.m EST.
You can also contact Equifax Canada by mail:
Equifax Credit Score Range
Your Equifax credit score can range from 300 to 900, where 300 to 559 is a “poor” credit score and 760 to 900 is an “excellent” credit score. Along this range are “fair” credit scores between 560 and 659, “good” credit scores between 660 and 724, as well as “very good” credit scores between 725 and 759.
Quebec Credit Lock💡
Residents of Quebec can request to have their credit report locked by Equifax. This prevents lenders and creditors from seeing your credit report or your credit score, and it helps protect you against identity theft. You can temporarily unlock your credit report if you’re looking to apply for credit, and then lock it again afterwards. However, some lenders may use TransUnion instead of Equifax, or they might not use your credit information at all.
To lock or unlock your Equifax credit report, you can do so online through myEquifax, by phone, or by mailing in a request form.
How to Get Your Free Equifax Credit Report
There are four ways that you can get your free Equifax credit report: online, by phone, by mail, and in person. Third-party companies may also offer free services that allow you to view your credit report and credit score online for free.
Getting Your Equifax Credit Report Online
To get your credit report online, you’ll need to create a free myEquifax account. You’ll need to enter your personal information, such as your date of birth and address, as well as answer some verification questions. While you don’t need to enter your Social Insurance Number (SIN), it can help make the application easier.
Once your account is set up, you’ll be able to receive and download your Equifax credit report for free. You can then print out this file if you choose to do so. You’ll also receive your Equifax credit score. Both the credit report and credit score will be updated monthly for free.
To view your Equifax credit report online:
Getting Your Equifax Credit Report By Phone
If you'd rather not get your credit report online, you can request for your credit report to be mailed to your home address by calling in. To get your free Equifax credit report by phone, you'll need to call in to an automated system. It will ask you to provide your personal information by voice, where you’ll be asked voice prompts.
Unlike the online application where you don't have to provide your SIN, getting your credit report by phone requires you to provide your SIN.
Once you have been validated, Equifax will mail you your credit report by Canada Post, which you will receive within 5 to 10 days.
To call-in to request your Equifax credit report to be mailed to you:
Getting Your Equifax Credit Report By Mail
Requesting your credit report by mail requires you to fill out a form and provide photocopies of your identification. This would be the front and back of two pieces of identification, where at least one of them must have your current home address. If your ID does not have your current home address, you'll need to also submit a document that does, such as a credit card statement or a utility bill dated within the past 90 days. You do not need to provide your SIN.
Once you have mailed your request to Equifax, they will verify your identity and then mail a physical copy of your credit report back to you. This delivery would be through Canada Post, where it will take between 5 to 10 days.
To request your Equifax credit report by mail:
Getting Your Equifax Credit Report In Person
There are three office locations where you can request your Equifax credit report in person. It also requires you to complete a Credit Report Request Form, which you can complete in advance or complete provided copies at the office location.
Similar to requesting your credit report by mail, you'll need to bring two pieces of ID, where at least one should have your current home address, or an ID and a proof of address such as a credit card statement or utility bill that you received through the mail. Photocopies or digital pictures of your ID would not be accepted.
Your SIN isn't required for in-person requests. You'll receive a physical printed copy of your credit report on the spot.
To request your Equifax credit report in person, visit one of Equifax’s office locations:
Other Ways to Get Your Equifax Credit Report for Free
While it’s free to get your credit score and credit report directly from Equifax every month, there are some websites that allow you to get it more frequently, or as part of other services.
CIBC banking clients can check their credit score and credit report for free once every three months by using the CIBC Mobile Banking app.
If you’d like to keep up-to-date on your credit file, Borrowell lets you see your updated credit report every 7 days.
Don’t Forget About Your TransUnion Credit Report! 💡
TransUnion Canada is the other main credit bureau in Canada, and some lenders might only report or check your credit information from them. That’s just like how some lenders might only report or check your Equifax credit report, or even look at both.
Just like Equifax, you can check your credit report and see your credit score for free from TransUnion, or you can use third-parties such as some major banks or credit monitoring websites.
For example, RBC, Scotiabank, and BMO banking clients can check their TransUnion credit report and credit score for free from their online or mobile banking platforms.
What Information Does Your Equifax Credit Report Contain?
Your Equifax credit report contains a variety of important information, such as your payment history, credit accounts and inquiries, public records, and personal information.
- Personal Information
Your personal information will be listed in this section, and includes your name, address, date of birth, employment information, and Social Insurance Number (SIN).
- Credit Accounts
This lists each account that you have open, and shows the type of credit, the date opened, the amount or balance, the credit limit, and payment history.
- Inquiries
Inquiries are a check of your credit report. Hard inquiries occur whenever you apply for credit and a lender checks your credit report. Hard inquiries can affect your credit score and stay on your credit report for 36 months. Soft inquiries occur when current creditors check your credit report as part of a routine review, or when you check your own credit report. Only you can see soft inquiries and they do not affect your credit score.
- Public Records
If you have any past bankruptcies or past-due accounts in collections, they'll be listed here.
Equifax Canada Products
Equifax Complete Premier
Besides offering free monthly credit scores and credit reports, Equifax also offers paid subscription services. Equifax Complete Premier, which costs $19.95 per month, comes with daily credit score and credit report updates. It also helps to protect you against identity theft. You can cancel this subscription at any time.
Equifax credit score and credit report monitoring, included in this service, will send you an alert based on changes to your report or score.
Identity theft restoration assigns a specialist to help you in the event of identity theft. Webscan searches to make sure that your personal information hasn't been found on the internet, and lost wallet assistance helps you cancel and get new credit cards and ID.
Equifax Complete Premier also comes with identity theft insurance that provides up to $1 million in coverage.
Equifax paid products are offered by Equifax Consumer Services, which is located in the United States.
Equifax Complete Friends and Family
At $29.95 per month, Equifax Complete Friends and Family has the exact same features as Equifax Complete Premier, but allows you to add a second adult to this plan. This would reduce the cost per person to $14.98 per person, per month.
How Do I Cancel My Equifax Subscription? 💡
While it’s easy to sign up for an Equifax subscription online, you’ll need to call in to cancel.
To cancel your Equifax subscription, the phone number to call is:
(866) 820-8911
They’re open from 8 a.m to 12 a.m ET.
Equifax Canada Dispute Process
Sometimes inaccurate information can appear on your credit report, or you might have even been a victim of identity theft and have had fraudulent accounts opened in your name. This can negatively impact your credit score, and so you’ll want to have them corrected. There are two ways to dispute information on your Equifax credit report: by email and by mail.
To dispute by email, Equifax will send you a dispute form which you'll need to fill out. This includes your identification, account information, and any other supporting documents. Account information might be a bank statement with the correct information, or a letter from your creditor. This process by email would take 10 to 15 days.
To dispute by mail, you'll print out the dispute form and mail it in to Equifax. This would take 15 to 20 days.
The outcome of the dispute will be sent to you by email if you disputed by email, or sent to you by mail if you disputed by mail.
Equifax also allows you to add a consumer statement to your credit report, of up to 400 characters, that lenders can see when they check your report.
What can you dispute?
You can dispute the following:
- Alerts
- Death Notice
- Personal Information
- Employment
- Accounts
- Bank Alerts
- Inquiries
- Public Records
- Secured Loans
- Consumer Credit Lock (Quebec)