How our credit score simulator works, and what it cannot do

In Canada, Equifax and TransUnion each calculate scores from your credit report, on a scale of 300 to 900. Lenders may use either one, or their own model.

Public: the main factors, Equifax's approximate weights, Equifax's band ranges, and general guidance such as keeping balances low and applying for credit sparingly.

Not public: TransUnion's weights, the exact formula of either bureau, how each factor is scaled, how items are combined, and the point effect of any single action.

Checked October 29, 2026.

• Factor weights, approximate: payment history about 35%, used credit versus available credit about 30%, credit history about 15%, credit mix about 10%, inquiries about 10%. Source: Equifax Canada, How Are Credit Scores Calculated? Equifax describes these as a general breakdown. TransUnion Canada lists payment history, balances, credit utilization, length of credit history, credit mix and recent activity as key factors but does not publish weights.
• Score bands, Equifax Canada: Good 660 to 724, Very good 725 to 759, Excellent 760 and up, with scores below 560 generally in the lowest range. We show 560 to 659 as Fair.
• Score bands differ by provider. Credit Karma Canada, which uses a TransUnion based score, labels 800 to 900 Excellent, 720 to 799 Very good, 650 to 719 Good, 600 to 649 Fair and 300 to 599 Below fair. The same number can get a different label, so we show both.
• How long items stay on a report (Financial Consumer Agency of Canada page updated July 1, 2026, and Equifax Canada): late or missed payments up to 6 years; collections 6 years from first delinquency (Equifax); credit inquiries 3 years with Equifax or 6 years with TransUnion; bankruptcy 6 or 7 years depending on the province; consumer proposal 3 years after it is paid or 6 years after it is signed, whichever comes first.
• Closed accounts: Equifax says accounts paid as agreed stay up to 6 years after the lender reports them closed. The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada page says up to 10 years for Equifax and up to 20 years for TransUnion. These sources disagree, so we count a closed account toward your history for 6 years after closing.
• Account history: Equifax says the score looks at how long your oldest and most recent accounts have been open. Canada Guaranty says creditors typically want at least two open accounts used for two years or more.
• Rate shopping: Canada Guaranty advises quotes within two weeks so they count as one inquiry. Hard inquiries are applications for credit. Checking your own report is not one.
• What is not used: TransUnion states that age, ethnicity, religion, marital status, salary, occupation and employer are not factors in the score.

Equifax Canada says people have multiple scores, and it is normal to see differences of 100 points or more between score versions (4 Credit Score Myths Explained, checked October 29, 2026). A lender may use a version you never see. A single number from any tool would look more precise than it is.

These are our modelling choices, not bureau figures. We say so plainly so you can judge them.

• How a utilization percentage turns into a 0 to 100 factor score.
• How much each late payment, collection, proposal or bankruptcy subtracts, and how fast the effect fades.
• How account age turns into a factor score.
• The caps we apply when a file is thin or has a serious recent item.
• How much a recent application for credit costs. Equifax says there is no fixed number of points per inquiry and that it depends on the rest of your file, so we reduce the effect for long, solid histories and keep it larger for short or weaker ones.
• How the combined result maps to a band.

• Each of the five factors is scored from 0 to 100 (tables below).
• The scores are weighted with the approximate Equifax weights and added.
• Caps are applied: fewer than two accounts that are two years old or more caps the total at 62; a collection or 90 day late payment in the last 24 months caps it at 52; a consumer proposal or bankruptcy in the last 36 months caps it at 45.
• The result is placed on the 300 to 900 scale and shown as a band with a range of about 45 points either side, wider for thin files, serious items or an unconfirmed late payment list (never more than 80 either side).

Overall use of open cards and lines of credit. We subtract 10 if any single card is above 90%, and multiply by 0.85 when the payment history score is under 70, because high balances matter more when payments are already weak.

Start at 100 and subtract the amount below, multiplied by how recent the item is. We subtract up to 10 more depending on the share of accounts that had a late item.

Recency weight: under 12 months 1.0, 12 to 24 months 0.6, 24 to 48 months 0.3, 48 to 72 months 0.1, older than 6 years 0 (the longest retention in the sources above).

• It cannot see your report, so it can miss errors, closed accounts, old items or details on your file.
• It cannot predict an exact score or an exact change.
• It does not know which model a lender uses.
• It does not account for every type of account, such as authorized user cards, or every province's rules.
• It does not know your statement dates. Cards report a balance to the bureaus about once a month, so the balance on your report can differ from what you carry day to day (Equifax Canada).
• It is not advice.

We run automatic checks that the tool behaves sensibly: paying down balances never lowers the estimate, a new late payment never raises it, an older late payment weighs less than a recent one, a recent collection caps the result, and applying for credit costs a long solid file less than a short one. These tests show the logic is consistent. They do not show the tool matches real scores.

We have not yet measured how often our band matches a real score. When we do, we will publish how many cases we checked and how we chose them, and nothing more than that.

The tool runs in your browser. We do not store or send what you enter.

Email hello@whatiscredit.ca and we will check it against the sources above.