How to Check Your Credit Score for Free in Canada

The two bureaus that decide your score

In Canada, there's no single official credit score. Two private companies, Equifax Canada and TransUnion Canada, each keep their own file on you built from what banks, credit card issuers, and other lenders report about your borrowing and repayment history.

Scores from both bureaus are typically presented on the same rough scale, but the exact number can differ between them because not every lender reports to both, and each bureau uses its own scoring formula. That's why the "free ways to check" below are worth doing more than once, and with more than one source, if you want the full picture.

Free score access through your bank or credit card app

The easiest free option for most people is already sitting in their pocket. Most of the big Canadian banks and several credit card issuers now offer a free credit score widget inside their banking app, refreshed monthly, sourced from a partnership with Equifax or TransUnion.

• Log into your bank's mobile app or website and look for a "credit score" or "credit health" section under your profile or account settings.
• If your bank doesn't offer this, a free standalone app such as Borrowell (Equifax-based) or Credit Karma Canada (TransUnion-based) will show you a score with no cost and no credit card required.

These tools give you a real score, not an estimate, but they're a snapshot for your own awareness rather than the exact number a lender would pull the day you apply for a mortgage or car loan.

Your legal right to a free full report

Separate from the score itself, Canadian law entitles you to a free copy of your credit report from both Equifax Canada and TransUnion Canada, as often as you like. This report shows your account history, payment record, and any collections or public records on file, though the free version typically does not include the numeric score.

You can request it online, by phone, or by mail directly through each bureau's website. Reviewing this report at least once a year is worth doing on its own, since it's also how you catch identity theft or reporting errors before they drag your score down.

The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC) has plain-language guidance on how the request process works and what your rights are if you spot a mistake on your file.

Checking it yourself is always safe

A common worry is that looking up your own score will hurt it. It won't. Credit inquiries come in two types: soft inquiries, which include you checking your own score, pre-approval offers, and employer background checks, and hard inquiries, which happen when you formally apply for credit and a lender pulls your file.

Only hard inquiries can cause a small, temporary dip. Soft inquiries are invisible to your score and, in most cases, invisible to other lenders looking at your file too. That means there's no downside to checking monthly through a free app to track trends over time.

What to do once you see the number

A score is only useful if it changes how you act. If it's lower than you expected, look at the two factors that move it fastest: how much of your available credit you're using, and whether every payment is landing on time.

• Paying down credit card balances so you're using a smaller share of your limit typically helps within a billing cycle or two.
• Setting up autopay for at least the minimum payment removes the single biggest risk to your score, a missed payment.
• Avoid applying for several new cards or loans in a short window, since each application is a hard inquiry.

If something on your report looks wrong, both Equifax Canada and TransUnion Canada have a dispute process to correct it, and the FCAC's website explains the steps.

Frequently asked