Closing a credit card in Canada: what it can do to your credit score

• Closing an older account may hurt your score, and closing one can cost you older credit history and some of your available credit.
• Keeping an old account open, even with a zero balance, helps keep your history and utilization.
• Keep it open if it has no annual fee, is easy to manage, and you can use it once in a while.
• Lenders want a long, stable history, so accounts kept open and active for a long time may help.
• Use less than 30% of your total credit limit. The FCAC example is a $5,000 limit with $1,000 used, which is 20%.

Source: FCAC, modified July 1, 2026.

Say you have two cards with a $5,000 limit each, and you owe $1,000 on one. Your total limit is $10,000, so your utilization is 1,000 ÷ 10,000, which is 10%. If you close the card with no balance, your total limit falls to $5,000, and the same $1,000 is 20%. Your debt did not change, but the number lenders see doubled. This is our arithmetic using the FCAC's method, not an FCAC figure.

• The card has an annual fee you do not want to pay. Ask the issuer to switch you to a no-fee card first.
• You cannot control spending on it.
• The issuer is charging fees you can't avoid.

The FCAC page does not say how long the effect lasts or give a score change, so we do not give one. Your own report and score are the best guide.

• Credit utilization in Canada
• Length of credit history
• What is a credit limit?
• Free credit report in Canada