How to Get Your Free Credit Report, Find Errors, and Dispute Them Yourself

You can fix a credit report error yourself, and it costs nothing. The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada notes that Canada has two national credit reporting bureaus — Equifax Canada and TransUnion Canada — and that a free copy of your credit report is available from each. Pull both, compare them against your own records, and dispute anything inaccurate directly with the bureau that reported it. You do not need to pay a credit repair company, and paying one does not produce a faster or better result.

This matters because errors get read as risk, and risk is what prices a loan — including anything marketed as a loan on poor credit.

Why you need both reports, not one

The two bureaus are competitors, not a shared database. A lender may report an account to Equifax only, to TransUnion only, or to both, and the two files can differ in content and in age. An error you correct at one bureau can still be sitting at the other, working against you. It also means a clean report at one bureau tells you nothing about the other.

Your report and your score are different things. The report is the underlying file: accounts, balances, payment history, inquiries, and public records. The score is a number calculated from that file, and different scoring models produce different numbers. Disputes are about the report, because the report is what the score is built from. According to the FCAC, a free copy of the report is available from each bureau; scores are often sold separately.

Step 1: Request both free reports

Each bureau accepts requests through its own website, and by mail or telephone. A few practical notes:

• Request both at the same time, so you're comparing the same moment in your credit history.
• Type the bureau's website address yourself rather than clicking an advertisement for a lookalike site.
• Expect identity verification questions drawn from your own credit history. That's normal, not a red flag.
• Mail requests take longer than online ones. Keep a copy of anything you send and note the date.
• Repeat the exercise once or twice a year, and always before a major application such as a mortgage or a car loan.

Step 2: Read it like an auditor

Don't skim. Work through every account and match it against your own records — statements, bank history, old loan documents. Most errors fall into a handful of categories, and each one needs a slightly different piece of evidence.

What you see	Why it usually happens	What to send with the dispute
An account that isn't yours	A mixed file — someone with a similar name, or an account opened fraudulently	Identification, plus a written statement that you never opened it
A balance that's wrong	Payment posted late, or the lender reported before processing your payment	A statement or receipt showing the correct balance
A late payment that never happened	Payment applied to the wrong account, or a date error in the lender's system	A bank record showing when the payment left your account
The same debt listed twice	The account was sold, and both the old and the new lender reported it	Both account numbers, side by side
An inquiry you didn't authorize	A lender checked your file without consent, or a fraudulent application was made	The dates, plus a note that no application was made
An item that should have aged off	Reporting beyond the standard retention period	The date of the original delinquency or discharge

A note on that last row: accurate information with a long history is not an error. Negative items are supposed to disappear on a schedule. A consumer proposal stays on your credit report for three years after completion, or six years from filing, whichever comes first. A first bankruptcy stays on your report for six years after discharge, per the FCAC. Disputing accurate information does not remove it, no matter how it got there.

Step 3: File the dispute in writing

1. Write to the bureau that holds the error, not to the lender. The bureau is responsible for the accuracy of its own file.
2. Identify the item precisely — the account number, the balance, the date, and exactly what is wrong with it.
3. Attach copies of your supporting documents. Never send originals.
4. Keep it factual. "This account was closed in March and shows a zero balance; the closing statement is attached" works better than a paragraph about how frustrating the process is.
5. Send it in a way that creates a record: registered mail, or the bureau's online dispute portal with a screenshot of the confirmation.
6. Run the same process at the second bureau if the item appears there too. Neither bureau can correct the other's file.
7. Note the date you filed. If nothing changes after a reasonable wait, follow up in writing and reference your original request.

The bureau typically forwards your dispute to the lender that supplied the information, and the lender has to verify it. That's why outcomes usually turn on documentation rather than argument. If the lender can substantiate the item, it stays; if it can't, it should be corrected or removed.

What it costs, and who is allowed to charge you

Disputing is free. Credit repair firms in Canada charge for work you can do yourself — some simply handle the paperwork for a fee, and some make promises nobody can keep, such as removing accurate negative information or guaranteeing an approval. Nobody can promise an approval, because the lender makes that decision on its own criteria. If a service asks for payment before explaining exactly what it will do, treat that as a warning sign.

If your issue is really a complaint about how a financial institution treated you, the route is different. The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada handles consumer complaints about federally regulated financial institutions, while provinces license and supervise most other lenders and each maintains a consumer protection office. Escalating to the right regulator matters, because a bureau can only correct a file — it cannot discipline a lender.

Why a small error ends up costing real money

Lenders price risk. A file showing a late payment you never made looks like a borrower who misses payments, so the lender either declines or prices the loan higher. The gap between the best advertised rate and what any individual is actually offered comes down to that assessment. It's the same reason a loan on poor credit is expensive: the lender is charging for the probability of default, not for the paperwork.

The upper end of that pricing is bounded by law. Canada's Criminal Code sets the criminal rate of interest at 35% per year (s. 347), calculated using a defined method that aggregates interest and certain charges. Payday lending sits in its own regime: where a province operates a licensed payday lending regime, federal payday lending regulations (SOR/2024-114) cap the cost of borrowing at $14 per $100 advanced, some provinces set a lower cap and the lower figure applies, and payday loans are generally up to $1,500 for a term of 62 days or less. Quebec does not license payday lending, which effectively prohibits the model there. None of this makes expensive credit a good idea — it simply defines where the ceiling sits.

If the report is accurate and the debt is the real problem

Sometimes there is no error and the difficulty is the debt itself. Two formal options exist, and only a licensed insolvency trustee can administer either a consumer proposal or a bankruptcy; trustees are regulated by the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy Canada. Both are serious steps with long reporting consequences, as the retention periods above show. Decisions of that size call for regulated professional advice, not a web page.

If you're rebuilding, the mechanics are unglamorous and slow: pay on time, keep balances low relative to your limits, let older accounts age rather than closing them reflexively, and add new credit sparingly. Fixing errors matters because they misrepresent you. Consistent habits are what actually move a score over months and years.

Do the free part first

Almost every credit problem is better addressed by ordering both free reports, finding the specific inaccuracies, and disputing them in writing with proof attached. It costs nothing, it's done in your own name, and no intermediary can do it faster than you can.

loanloon.ca is a loan matching and comparison service, not a lender. We don't make loans, set rates, or make credit decisions. We connect you with lenders so you can compare what they offer. The lowest advertised rates are only available to the most qualified applicants — which is exactly why an accurate credit report is worth the hour it takes to check.

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• Financial Consumer Agency of Canada — credit reports and scores — Financial Consumer Agency of Canada
• Financial Consumer Agency of Canada — Financial Consumer Agency of Canada