All About Your Credit History
There are two national credit-reporting agencies (also known as credit bureaus): Equifax, and TransUnion. They collect credit information on consumers and sell it to creditors, employers, property owners, government agencies, and anyone else who is legally entitled to its access.
Credit-reporting agencies are regulated by law, both provincial and federal, to protect your privacy regarding the information in your credit history and your dealings with credit bureaus.
Credit-reporting agencies receive their information about you from a variety of sources including, but may not be limited to, your creditors and court records. If you have credit now or have had it in the past it's likely both national credit bureaus are maintaining a credit history on you.
Your credit report provides information about:
- You: Your name, social insurance number, current and past addresses, name of your spouse and, name of your current and past employers.
- Public record information: Information about bankruptcies you have filed during the past 10 years, unpaid liens on your property, court judgments against you, collection activities, etc.
- Inquiries: The names of the companies who have reviewed any information on your credit report. For example, your creditors may have had a look at your report to help them decide if they should increase your credit limit or change the interest rate on your account. Other creditors may have looked at it to decide whether or not to send you a pre-approved offer of credit.
Always review your credit history information before applying for credit, a new job or promotion, a place to rent, a government license, security clearance or government benefit, etc.
