Click here to go straight to credit score explained.
Click here to go back to the Credit Repair main page

Your Credit Report.

Equifax and TransUnion are the two major credit-reporting agencies in Canada. They record your credit history as well as the other millions of people in Canada. Your credit report is a record of your credit history. It is one of the main tools used by lenders to see if you qualify for credit.

Your Credit Report is Protected.

You and only the people you allow are the only people allowed to see your credit report. When you apply for credit, the form you sign will have a section stating that you are giving permission for the company to check your credit history. The credit reporting agencies will also only give out this information when the request is applicable, i.e. credit card application, collection of a debt, car loan.

What information is on my Credit report?

Your personal and financial information of past and present is recorded in your credit report. This can include:

• Personal information: Name, current and previous address(es), SIN number, date of birth, telephone number and your current and previous employer(s).
• Credit information: Any credit you may already have, such as a credit or retail card, a line of credit, a loan or a mortgage.
• Banking information: Your banking accounts, any NSF (non-sufficient funds) or "bad" cheques you may have written.
• Public records: Bankruptcies, credit-related court judgements against you, secured loans backed with collateral (mortgage) may appear on your credit report.
• Collections: Any debt you could not pay which was referred to a collection agency to get the payment.
• Consumer statement: A statement from you explaining a particular issue. This could be a dispute with a financial institution or a fraud warning.
• Credit report inquiries: All the people or authorized organization that have enquired about your credit.

Your history of payments is described in different ways.

Ratings

Credit-reporting agencies often assign a rating to each item on your credit report. This is typically from 0 to 9:

• R0 - Account is too new to have a credit rating yet
• R1 - Your payments to the creditor are on time
• R2 - Your payments to the creditor are 30 days late
• R3 - Your payments to the creditor are 60 days late
• R4 - Your payments to the creditor are 90 days late
• R5 - Your payments to the creditor are 120 days late
• R6 - 6 is often not used
• R7 - You are on a debt management plan or consolidation program
• R8 - The creditor is making steps in realizing assets to cover the outstanding debt, i.e. reposesing a car
• R9 - This is a bad debt in collections, considered uncollectable or you are bankrupt.

Letters are also prefixed with the rating number (eg, O2, I3, R4). This shows the type of credit you have on that account.

• "I" means you were given credit on an installment basis, such as for a car loan, where you borrow money once and repay it in fixed amounts for a specific time.
• "O" shows an open credit. This could be a line of credit where you borrow money when needed to a certain limit. This could also include student loans where you don’t need to repay the debt until you finish school.
• "R" is for revolving credit. Credit cards are a good example, where the debt load and amount you pay varies over time, but your payment schedule does not.

Payment Chart

Charts will show your payment history over a specified period of time.

Payment Scales

Payment scales will show the number of times accounts were paid in periods after the due date. These are usually 30, 60 or 90 days.

What does a Credit Report look like?

You can go to Equifax and TransUnion to get your report and look at samples from the following links:

• Equifax Credit Report Example.
• TransUnion Credit Report Example.