A single wrong entry on your credit report can cost you real money. If you need to dispute a credit report error in Canada, you are not alone, and the process costs nothing. Errors are more common than most people expect: an account you never opened, a payment you made on time that shows as 30 days late, or a collection account that should have purged years ago. Any of these can push your score into a lower range than your actual payment history deserves.
That lower score means higher interest rates, fewer lender options, and loan applications that get declined when they should be approved. This guide walks you through the full dispute process with both Equifax and TransUnion, including what counts as a disputable error, what documents to collect before you file, and what to do if the bureau comes back with a result you disagree with.
What Counts as a Disputable Credit Report Error in Canada
Before filing a dispute, it helps to know which types of errors are actually worth fighting. The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada lists the following as disputable items:
- Wrong personal information: incorrect name spelling, wrong date of birth, outdated or incorrect address
- Payments marked as late or missed that you made on time
- Accounts listed on your report that you never opened (a potential sign of identity theft)
- Negative information that has stayed on your report past its maximum retention period
On the last point, Canadian credit bureaus have specific purge timelines. Most negative account information must come off your report six years from the date of last activity. Equifax purges hard credit inquiries after three years. If an item is older than those windows and still showing, that is a legitimate error you can dispute.
Two other common errors worth disputing: duplicate accounts (the same debt listed twice) and accounts that show as open when they were closed and paid years ago.
Gather Your Evidence Before You File
The bureaus do not take your word alone. They investigate by contacting the creditor who reported the information, and that creditor can confirm or contradict your claim. Your job is to make the case as easy as possible for them to rule in your favour.
Before filing, pull together:
- Government-issued photo ID confirming your full legal name and date of birth (driver’s license or passport)
- Proof of your current address (recent utility bill or bank statement)
- Bank or credit card statements showing the payment you made and when it posted
- A letter from the creditor or lender if they have already acknowledged the error
- Court documents if the dispute involves a bankruptcy, judgment, or consumer proposal
- Any correspondence showing you closed an account that is still listed as open
The more specific your documentation, the faster the investigation tends to go. Vague disputes with no supporting evidence often take the full allotted processing time and sometimes come back unresolved.
How to Dispute a Credit Report Error with Equifax Canada
Equifax Canada accepts disputes online or by mail. Both options are free.
Online Dispute (Equifax)
Go to the Equifax Canada dispute page and click Start Your Dispute. Equifax will send a dispute form to your email. Complete the form electronically and email it back with your supporting documents attached. You can attach up to 3 files, so if you have multiple pages of documentation, combine them into a single PDF.
Equifax typically processes online disputes in 15 to 20 days.
Dispute by Mail (Equifax)
Download and print the dispute form from the Equifax website, then mail it with copies (not originals) of your supporting documents to:
Equifax Canada Co. National Consumer Relations Box 190 Montreal, Quebec H1S 2Z2
Mail disputes take 20 to 25 days to process. Keep a copy of everything you send.
What Equifax Needs From You
For personal information disputes: your driver’s license or passport, plus a utility bill or bank statement confirming your address.
For account disputes: recent bank statements, letters from the creditor, or confirmation from a lender about the account’s status, ownership, and payment history.
For legal matters: bankruptcy discharge papers, court documents, or release letters from collection agencies.
How to Dispute a Credit Report Error with TransUnion Canada
TransUnion Canada accepts disputes online, by phone, and by mail.
Online Dispute (TransUnion)
Go to ocs.transunion.ca to access TransUnion’s self-service portal. From there, you can review your consumer disclosure and launch a dispute on any item in your file.
Dispute by Phone (TransUnion)
Call 1-800-663-9980 to speak with a TransUnion representative who can help you file a dispute over the phone and explain what documentation to submit.
Dispute by Mail (TransUnion)
Download the Credit Investigation Request Form from the TransUnion Canada website and mail it, along with your documentation, to the address listed on the form. TransUnion has historically accepted in-person requests at its Burlington, Ontario, location, but that service will no longer be available effective July 1, 2026. Online, phone, and mail channels remain open.
TransUnion investigations are typically concluded within 30 days of receiving your request.
What Happens After You File
Once you file, the bureau contacts the creditor who reported the information and asks them to verify it. The creditor then confirms or contradicts what is in your file.
There are three possible outcomes:
- The creditor agrees there is an error. The bureau corrects or removes the item from your report. In some provinces, they are required to notify anyone who recently pulled your credit about the correction.
- The creditor confirms the information is correct. The bureau leaves your report unchanged and notifies you of the result.
- The bureau cannot verify the information. If verification fails, the item is removed or updated as you requested.
You will receive written notification of the outcome. Keep this for your records.
If Your Dispute Is Rejected: What to Do Next
A rejection is not the end of the road. The FCAC’s dispute escalation steps give you several options:
Add a Consumer Statement
If the investigation did not resolve the dispute in your favour, you have the right to add a brief consumer statement to your credit file explaining your position. With Equifax, you can submit a statement online through the portal or mail a written statement to their National Consumer Relations address. TransUnion also accepts consumer statements. Lenders who review your credit report can see this statement and factor it into their decision.
Contact the Lender Directly
Sometimes, the credit bureau cannot force a correction if the creditor keeps confirming their data. Going directly to the lender or collection agency (in writing, with your documentation) can sometimes resolve the issue faster than the bureau process alone. A creditor who confirms an error can instruct the bureau to update your file.
Escalate to a Regulator
If you believe a credit bureau has handled your dispute improperly, you have two escalation routes. For federally regulated financial institutions (banks, credit unions under federal charter), you can file a complaint with the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada. For complaints about the credit bureaus themselves, contact your provincial consumer affairs office, since credit bureaus are regulated provincially in Canada.
How Long Before a Correction Shows in Your Score
Once a bureau corrects your file, the change typically appears in your credit score within 30 days, since most scoring models update on a monthly cycle. If you pulled your score through a free monitoring service like Borrowell or Credit Karma Canada, your updated score should reflect the correction on their next refresh, which is usually monthly.
If you are preparing to apply for a loan, wait until you can confirm the correction has been processed and is showing in your report before submitting your application.
Why Dispute Before Applying for a Loan
From a lender’s perspective, your credit file at the moment of application is what gets reviewed. A score that should be 680 but shows as 620 because of an erroneous late payment can move you from one interest rate band to another. On a $15,000 personal loan, that difference can add up to hundreds of dollars over the life of the loan.
Lenders at Lend For All Canada work with a range of credit profiles. If your file has been corrected, you may qualify for better terms than if you applied with the error still showing. If you are working on your overall credit picture, reviewing the post on “How to improve your credit score in Canada“, alongside disputing errors, offers the most comprehensive approach.
Once you are confident your file is accurate, personal loans at Lend For All Canada are available to borrowers with a wide range of credit profiles, subject to lender review. Clean up the file first, then apply with the score your payment history actually reflects.
Bringing It Together
Disputing a credit report error in Canada does not require a lawyer or a credit repair company. The process is free, both bureaus have clear intake forms, and the federal government’s FCAC pages outline your rights at every stage. The key is documentation: gather your evidence before you file, keep copies of everything you submit, and know your escalation options if the first result does not go your way.
If you are not sure what is currently on your report, the first step is to know how to check your credit score in Canada for free, and then understand what affects your credit score in Canada so you can prioritize which errors matter most to fix.
- What Counts as Bad Credit in Saskatchewan? (Score Ranges Lenders Use) - September 23, 2026
- Bad Credit Loans in Manitoba: A Provincial Guide - September 23, 2026
- Same-Day Loans in Canada: When Same-Day Actually Means Same-Day - September 23, 2026