Your credit history from home does not follow you. Canada's two credit bureaus, Equifax and TransUnion, start a file on you the first time a Canadian lender reports an account in your name. Until then there is nothing to score.
That matters sooner than most people expect. Landlords check it, phone carriers check it, and some insurers use it. Building Canadian credit from zero covers why. This piece is the schedule.
What actually counts
A Canadian credit score runs from 300 to 900. The commonly cited weights are:
| Factor | Approximate weight |
|---|---|
| Payment history: did you pay on time | 35% |
| Utilisation: how much of your limit you use | 30% |
| Length of history | 15% |
| New credit and recent applications | 10% |
| Mix of credit types | 10% |
The first two are two-thirds of the score, and both are things you control from the first month.
What does not count is the thing most newcomers open first. A chequing account, a savings account and a debit card are not reported to the bureaus. You need one to be paid and to pay your bills, but it builds nothing. Credit comes from credit: a card, a loan or a line of credit.
The plan
Month 0, the week you arrive - Open a chequing account so you can be paid. - Apply for one credit card. Most big banks run newcomer programs that waive the usual history requirement. If you are declined, take a secured card instead: you deposit the limit up front, and it reports exactly like a normal card. - Put the phone plan in your own name, not a relative's. A postpaid plan in your name can appear on your file.
Months 1 to 5 - Put one small recurring bill on the card, such as the phone plan or a streaming subscription. Nothing else is needed. - Set up automatic payment of the full statement balance from your chequing account. This one setting protects the 35%. - Keep the balance at the statement date under 30% of your limit, and lower is better. On a $1,000 limit that means under $300, even if you pay it off every month, because the bureaus see the statement balance, not what you paid after it.
Month 6 - Check both bureaus. Each is required to give you your own report free, and free score services exist for each. Look for errors, especially a misspelled name or wrong address, which can split your history into two thin files. - By now most people have a score. It will not be high, because the history is short, but it exists.
Months 7 to 12 - Do nothing new. Resist the store-card offers at the checkout. Every application is a hard inquiry, and several close together read as distress. - At twelve months, ask your card issuer for a limit increase rather than applying for a second card. A higher limit lowers your utilisation without a new inquiry.
Year 2 and beyond - Keep your first card open for as long as it costs nothing. It anchors the length of your history.
The mistakes that cost the most
- Carrying a balance to "build credit." Paying interest does not raise your score. Paying in full builds the same history for free.
- One missed payment. It can stay on your file for years and outweighs months of good behaviour. Automatic payment exists so this never happens.
- Being an authorised user on someone else's card. Depending on the issuer, it may not build your own file at all.
Where the first card comes from
Several banks will give a newcomer a card with no Canadian history. Simplii Financial's New to Canada program, for example, offers its no-annual-fee Cash Back Visa to people who arrived in the last five years, with a limit of up to $10,000 and no Canadian credit history needed. A higher limit helps with utilisation: $150 of spending is 1.5% of $10,000 and 30% of $500.
Simplii Financial is a referral link, and we are paid for it. It pays when you open a No Fee Chequing or High Interest Savings account, which is the account your card's automatic payment comes out of. It does not pay on the card itself. Open the account through it, deposit at least $100 within six months and keep $100 in it for 30 days, and you get $50. We get $125.
Three things you should know before clicking:
- Simplii's own website currently advertises a $350 offer for new No Fee Chequing clients, ending 31 January 2027. We do not know whether it combines with the referral. Read both sets of terms and take whichever leaves you better off, even if that means not using our link.
- Simplii is CIBC's direct banking brand. It is a Big Five bank without branches.
- It is not the only option. Most major banks have newcomer card programs, and secured cards are available from several issuers. What builds your score is the habit described above, not the logo on the card.
Sources
Score range and factor weights are as published by Equifax Canada, TransUnion Canada and the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, which describe the same five factors; weights are the industry's commonly cited approximations, not a published formula. Simplii program details are from Simplii's New to Canada page and referral terms from Simplii's referral program, read 2026-10-11. Partners can change their terms at any time, and their pages are the ones that count.
Not financial advice, and this is a referral page as disclosed above. Every paid link on this site, with what we receive from each, is listed on one page.