How We Choose Products

What We Evaluate

For every product category (secured credit cards, credit builders, debt consolidation, mortgages), we review options against these criteria, specific to each category. For credit-building products, for example, we look at:

• Accessibility

  Minimum deposit or income requirements, whether a hard credit check is required.

• Cost

  Annual and monthly fees, interest rates, foreign transaction fees.

• Credit reporting

  Whether and how often the issuer reports to Equifax Canada and TransUnion Canada.

• Transparency

  Whether the issuer publishes clear, current terms we can verify directly.

How We Verify Numbers

Every fee, rate, and eligibility requirement shown on our comparison pages is checked directly against the issuer's own current published terms — not against other comparison sites, which can lag behind real pricing changes. Each listing shows the date it was last verified. We re-check listed card figures at least once a month and show the date of each check and will remove or flag any listing we can no longer verify.

How Featured Placements Work

Where one product is highlighted as a featured or recommended option, that placement is based on our editorial evaluation of fit for the situation being discussed — never on commission. If we enter a paid partnership, a sponsored relationship will not buy a featured placement, a higher rating, or a better position in the list.

How We Make Money From These Pages

We have no paid partnerships today. If that changes, we'll say so on every affiliated page. If we enter a paid partnership, we will disclose it on every comparison page, and it will not affect the price you pay or which products we choose to list. Full detail is in our Affiliate Disclosure.

What We Don't Do

• We don't accept payment in exchange for a listing, ranking, or rating.
• We don't list a product we wouldn't consider suitable for at least one real reader situation.
• We don't publish a comparison page with real application links until we've verified the product's current terms directly.

Questions About a Specific Listing

If you think something's inaccurate or out of date, tell us at corrections@whatiscredit.ca — see our Editorial Policy for how we handle corrections.

Featured or recommended placements follow the same rules described above. Related pages: Editorial Policy and About.