Yes, ClearScore Canada is completely free, forever, with no credit card required or hidden trials. It provides users with their TransUnion credit score and report, which is updated weekly, and includes tools to track financial health and monitor for fraud. The service is available to Canadians aged 18+ (excluding Quebec) and signing up does not affect your credit score.
Always free, forever. See your credit score and credit report in 3 minutes and learn how to improve it. 100% free for Canadians.
Learn more about how your credit score is calculated. You may access your credit score online from Canada's 2 main credit bureaus. Your credit score from Equifax is accessible online for free and is updated monthly. If you live in Quebec, you may also access your credit score from TransUnion online for free.
We use bank-level security with 256-bit encryption. So, whether you're checking your score, reviewing your accounts, or comparing personalized offers, your data is safe with us.
It's free to sign up for an ClearScore account, which gives you access to your basic services like your credit score and report. ClearScore Protect is also free, but you can also upgrade to ClearScore Protect Plus for £4.99 a month or £49.99 a year.
It's your credit score and report, completely free
No trials, no signing up with a credit card. Just your information, for free, forever. It only takes 3 minutes to join ClearScore.
Experian's score is calculated using its proprietary data, while ClearScore's score is derived from Equifax's data. This means that a score of 750 on ClearScore might not equate to the same level of creditworthiness as a 750 on Experian.
The best free credit score apps in Canada
Equifax is the largest consumer credit bureau in Canada. Borrowell's app also gives you access to personalized insights into exactly what factors are impacting your credit score, as well as tailored tips to help you boost your score.
Yes, you can likely get a $50,000 loan with a 700 credit score, as this falls into the "good" credit range (670-739) that unlocks better rates, but approval also hinges on your income, debt-to-income (DTI) ratio (ideally below 36%), and overall credit history, with lenders looking for stability and repayment ability, so prequalifying with multiple lenders helps compare terms.
Yes, it is technically possible to get a 900 credit score in Canada, but it's very rare—and you absolutely don't need 900 to qualify for great rates and approvals. Most lenders consider you “excellent” well before 900.
The safest and most reliable way to get free credit information is through AnnualCreditReport.com, the only site authorized by federal law to provide your official free credit reports weekly, with no hidden fees or upsells, from Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. For free credit scores, you can also use sites like Credit Karma (VantageScore) or get FICO scores directly from bureaus like Experian, but always stick to the official sources to avoid scams.
Key takeaways: In Canada, a score of 660+ is good, and 760+ is excellent. Higher scores unlock better rates, loan terms, and premium credit products. Scores vary by bureau and model — Equifax, TransUnion and FICO® use different methods, and lenders often rely on FICO Scores.
ClearScore gets your score from Equifax and Credit Karma gets your score from TransUnion. They use different data and methods to work out your score, meaning it won't look the same as your Experian Credit Score. We've covered the differences between each CRA's score in more detail below.
The 2-2-2 credit rule is a guideline for building strong credit, suggesting you should have two active credit accounts (like cards or loans) for at least two years, with consistent on-time payments for those two years, often with a minimum credit limit of $2,000 per account, to demonstrate financial responsibility to lenders, especially for mortgages. It's a benchmark to show you can handle credit well over time, reducing lender risk and improving approval odds for major loans.
It's partly true: most negative items like late payments and collections are removed from your credit report after about seven years, but the underlying debt often still exists, and bankruptcies (Chapter 7) last 10 years, so your credit isn't entirely "clear" but mostly refreshed from old negatives. The 7-year clock starts from the date of the original delinquency, not when you paid it off or sent to collections, and the debt itself can still be pursued by collectors.
An 800 credit score is considered "exceptional" and, while not extremely common, it's achieved by a significant minority: roughly 23-24% of U.S. consumers have scores of 800 or higher, meaning nearly one in four people falls into this top tier, though far fewer (around 1.5-2%) hit a perfect 850. This level of credit is excellent for securing the best loan rates, requiring consistent on-time payments, very low credit utilization, and a long credit history.
760-900: Excellent
In fact, in Canada, the average credit score is 672, which would mean you'd need to get more than 200 additional points to even be in sight of a credit score of 900. Keep in mind that credit bureaus and lenders aren't really looking for perfection (they know how hard it is to attain 900).
What actions you can take to boost your credit scores?
If you've been wondering, “Is Zelle available in Canada?” The short answer is no. Under Zelle's current terms, it only works with US-based bank accounts and US phone numbers, so it isn't supported in Canada.
Lenders don't rely on your ClearScore credit score, or any one CRA score, to make decisions. When you apply for credit, lenders view your credit report data and use their own internal scoring system to assess risk and affordability.
There is no single credit score that's considered the most accurate. The truth is, there are several types of credit scores and many versions of each of those scores. And while different scores are often calculated based on many of the same factors, thinking of these scores in terms of accuracy can still be misleading.