All lenders rely on credit information from national credit reporting agencies (Equifax and Trans Union).

Occasionally it does happen that the information on your credit report may be incorrect. This is why it is important for everyone to – at least once a year – check their own credit report. This can be done on-line by going to www.equifax.ca.

If there are any incorrect entries in your credit report, you will need to contact Equifax in writing and try to clarify the situation. It may take a few months before Equifax will be able to verify and correct the information and for this reason one should not wait with checking their credit history until the time of applying for a mortgage.

One of the important aspects of your Credit Report is a credit score (Beacon Score). The higher the score the better. However, Beacon Score is not the only thing that will determine your eligibility to qualify for a particular mortgage product. Beacon score is calculated based on many different factors such as type of credit accounts, amount of debt, repayment history etc. It is however possible to have a very high Beacon Score and still being considered as having a "weak credit". This is why a consultation with a mortgage professional before even applying for a mortgage is crucial.

Another important factor – when you shop around for a mortgage on your own, every time you approach a lender, first thing they will need to know is what your credit history is like. They will pull your credit (i.e. run a so-called "inquiry" with Equifax). The more lenders you approach the more inquiries on your credit. This will affect your Beacon Score, potentially to the point where your score will dip below the level acceptable to a particular lender. For this reason it is better if your credit is pulled by an independent mortgage professional as he/she will do it only once and will be able to approach many lenders for you without the need for them to run more inquiries on your credit.