What is the difference between a hard and soft credit inquiry in Canada?

A hard inquiry (hard pull) occurs when a lender reviews your credit report to make a lending decision — for a credit card application, mortgage, car loan, or line of credit. Hard inquiries are visible to other lenders and can lower your score. A soft inquiry (soft pull) occurs when you check your own credit, when employers or landlords check your credit with your permission, or when lenders pre-screen you for offers. Soft inquiries do not affect your credit score and are not visible to other lenders.

How many points does a hard inquiry lower your credit score in Canada?

Typically 5–10 points per hard inquiry, though the exact impact varies by scoring model and your overall credit profile. The impact also fades significantly after the first 12 months and the inquiry drops off your report entirely after 2–3 years. For borrowers with thick, established credit files, a single hard inquiry often causes minimal or undetectable score movement. For thin files or scores near a lending threshold, a hard inquiry can be more consequential.

Do multiple mortgage applications count as one inquiry in Canada?

Yes, with important nuances. Credit scoring models (both FICO and proprietary models used in Canada) recognize that shopping for a mortgage, car loan, or student loan is normal consumer behaviour. Multiple inquiries of the same type within a 14–45 day window are typically grouped and counted as a single inquiry. This rate-shopping protection applies to mortgage, auto, and student loan inquiries — but generally not to credit card applications. However, each lender still appears on your report; only the scoring impact is reduced.

How long does a hard inquiry stay on my credit report in Canada?

Hard inquiries remain on your Equifax and TransUnion credit report for approximately 3 years. However, the active score impact diminishes significantly after the first 12 months. By month 13 onward, most inquiries have very little measurable effect on your score, even though they remain visible on the report until the 3-year mark.

Can I check my own credit score without hurting my score in Canada?

Yes. Checking your own credit report and score is always a soft inquiry — it has zero impact on your score regardless of how often you do it. You can check your Equifax score monthly through Borrowell, your TransUnion score through Credit Karma, and your full bureau reports any time through those services or directly at equifax.ca and transunion.ca without any score impact.

Hard vs Soft Credit Inquiry in Canada: What Affects Your Score and What Doesn't

Hard Inquiries: What Triggers Them

A hard inquiry is initiated by a lender when they are evaluating you for credit. You must authorize it (by signing an application), but the authorization is usually buried in the terms.

Action	Typically Hard Pull?
Credit card application	Yes
Mortgage application	Yes
Car loan or lease	Yes
Personal line of credit	Yes
Student loan (bank)	Yes
HELOC application	Yes
Cell phone on contract (some carriers)	Yes
Apartment rental (landlord)	Sometimes hard, sometimes soft — ask first
Employer background check	Soft only (limited to specific info, with consent)
Pre-approval offers you received in the mail	Soft
Checking your own credit	Soft — always
Credit monitoring services (Borrowell, Credit Karma)	Soft — always

Soft Inquiries: What They Are and Aren’t

Soft inquiries appear on your credit report but:

Do not affect your credit score
Are not visible to lenders reviewing your report
Can only be seen by you when you review your own file

Soft inquiries are used by:

Yourself (any time you check your own report or score)
Lenders checking existing customers for limit changes
Landlords or employers (authorized review — soft, limited info)
Pre-approved offer generation (lenders screening prospects)

How Much Does a Hard Inquiry Hurt?

Credit Profile	Estimated Score Drop (per hard inquiry)
Thin file (< 3 accounts, < 2 years)	5–15 points
Established file (5+ accounts, 5+ years)	2–8 points
Near a key threshold (699, 679)	Could push below the threshold
Excellent score (780+)	Often minimal or undetectable

The inquiry impact fades:

Month 1–12: Full impact active
Month 13–24: Impact substantially reduced
Month 25–36: Minimal impact; inquiry still visible
After 36 months: Inquiry drops off report entirely

The Rate-Shopping Protection Rule

If you are shopping for the best mortgage or car loan rate, you should not be penalized for applying at multiple lenders. Canadian credit scoring models include a “deduplication” window:

Loan Type	Window	How It Works
Mortgage	14–45 days	Multiple mortgage hard pulls within this window count as 1 inquiry for scoring
Auto loan/lease	14–45 days	Same grouping applies
Student loan	14–45 days	Same grouping
Credit card	No grouping	Each application is a separate inquiry

Practical advice when shopping for a mortgage: Get all your applications in within a 2-week window. Each lender will still appear on your report (visible to future lenders), but scoring models treat them as one event.

Which Bureau Does Each Lender Pull?

Lenders choose which bureau to query. Knowing this helps you anticipate where inquiries land.

Lender Type	Typical Bureau Used
Big 5 banks (mortgage)	Equifax (most common) or both
Monoline mortgage lenders	Equifax (most common)
Credit unions	Often TransUnion; varies by province
Car dealerships	Often TransUnion
Credit card issuers (most)	Equifax
Capital One	TransUnion
Neo Financial	Equifax
Rogers/Fido cell plans	TransUnion
Bell/Telus cell plans	Equifax

When applying for credit, a hard inquiry only appears on the bureau the lender queried. If the lender pulls Equifax only, your TransUnion score is unaffected.

How to Check Your Own Credit for Free (No Score Impact)

Service	Bureau	Score	Report	Cost	Frequency
Borrowell	Equifax	✓	✓	Free	Monthly
Credit Karma	TransUnion	✓	✓	Free	Weekly
Equifax.ca (direct)	Equifax	Paid only	Free (mail request)	Free report	Annually
TransUnion.ca (direct)	TransUnion	Paid only	Free (mail request)	Free report	Annually

All of the above are soft inquiries. You can monitor your score monthly with zero impact.

When to Avoid Hard Inquiries

Avoid hard inquiries in the 90 days before:

A mortgage application
A car loan application
An important tenancy application (if the landlord does a hard pull)

Specifically: Do not apply for new credit cards, furniture financing, “buy now pay later” credit products, or retail store credit during this window.

What a Hard Inquiry Looks Like on Your Report

A hard inquiry entry on your report shows:

Name of the creditor who pulled it
Date of the inquiry
Type of credit applied for (varies by bureau format)

You can see all hard inquiries on your own file. If you see inquiries you did not authorize — someone has attempted to open credit in your name — this is a red flag for identity theft and should be investigated and disputed immediately.