Does a soft credit check affect your credit score?

No. Soft credit checks have zero impact on your credit score. They're not visible to other lenders and don't show up on the version of your credit report that lenders see. Only you can see soft inquiries on your own report.

How many points does a hard credit check lower your score?

A single hard credit check typically lowers your score by 5 to 10 points. The impact is temporary and usually recovers within a few months if you don't accumulate additional hard inquiries. The newer the inquiry, the more it affects your score.

How long does a hard inquiry stay on your credit report?

Hard inquiries remain on your credit report for 3 years in Canada with both Equifax and TransUnion. However, their impact on your score diminishes over time and is generally negligible after 12 months.

Is checking your own credit score a hard or soft inquiry?

Checking your own credit score is always a soft inquiry. This applies whether you check through Equifax or TransUnion directly, through free services like Borrowell or Credit Karma, or through your bank's app. You can check your own score as often as you like without any impact.

Do mortgage rate comparisons count as multiple hard inquiries?

Not if you do them within the rate-shopping window. Equifax groups multiple mortgage inquiries within 14 days as a single inquiry. TransUnion allows a 45-day window. This means you can shop around for the best mortgage rate without each lender's inquiry counting separately against your score.

Does a rental application trigger a hard credit check?

It depends on the landlord. Some landlords or property management companies perform hard credit checks, while others use services that only do soft checks. Always ask before a rental application whether it will be a hard or soft inquiry. If you're applying to multiple rentals, this matters.

Can I get a hard inquiry removed from my credit report?

Only if the inquiry was unauthorized — meaning you didn't consent to the credit check. If a company pulled your credit without your permission, you can file a dispute with Equifax or TransUnion to have it removed. Legitimate hard inquiries from applications you submitted cannot be removed early.

How many hard inquiries is too many?

There's no exact threshold, but 6 or more hard inquiries within a 12-month period is generally considered a red flag by lenders. It suggests you're actively seeking credit from multiple sources, which can indicate financial stress. Fewer than 3 inquiries in 12 months is unlikely to cause any concern.

Soft vs Hard Credit Check in Canada: What You Need to Know

The short answer: soft credit checks don’t affect your score at all, and hard credit checks lower it temporarily by about 5–10 points. But the distinction matters more than those numbers suggest, especially if you’re applying for a mortgage, shopping for rates, or worried about your credit profile. Knowing what triggers each type of check helps you protect your score while still making smart financial decisions.

Soft vs Hard Credit Check Comparison

	Soft Credit Check	Hard Credit Check
Impact on credit score	None	Lowers score by 5–10 points
Visible to other lenders	No	Yes
Shows on your credit report	Only on your personal copy	Yes, for 3 years
Your consent required	No	Yes
Typical duration on report	Not tracked long-term	3 years
Rate-shopping window	N/A	14–45 days for mortgage/auto
Common triggers	Checking own score, pre-approvals, employer checks	Loan applications, credit card applications, some rentals

What Triggers a Hard Credit Check

A hard inquiry (also called a hard pull) happens when a lender checks your credit report as part of a lending decision. Your consent is required. These are the most common triggers:

Mortgage applications. Every mortgage lender or broker you formally apply with will pull a hard inquiry.
Credit card applications. Each new credit card application triggers a hard check, including store credit cards.
Auto loans and leases. Dealership financing and bank auto loans both require a hard pull.
Personal loans and lines of credit. Whether from a bank, credit union, or online lender.
Rental applications (sometimes). Some landlords and property management companies order hard checks. Always ask beforehand.
Cell phone contracts. Signing up for a new phone on a contract plan typically triggers a hard inquiry since the carrier is extending credit for the device.
Some insurance applications. Although insurance credit checks are sometimes soft, some providers do hard pulls. Confirm before applying.

What Triggers a Soft Credit Check

Soft inquiries (soft pulls) don’t affect your score and are only visible on your own copy of your credit report. Other lenders can’t see them.

Checking your own credit score. Through Equifax, TransUnion, Borrowell, Credit Karma, or your bank’s app.
Pre-approved credit offers. When a credit card company or lender sends you a pre-qualified offer in the mail.
Employer background checks. Some employers check credit as part of the hiring process, especially for financial positions.
Insurance quotes. Most insurance companies use soft checks when generating quotes.
Account reviews by existing lenders. Your current credit card company or bank may periodically check your credit to adjust your limit or review your account.
Identity verification. Some services use a soft credit check simply to verify your identity.

The Rate-Shopping Window

One of the most important things to understand about hard inquiries is the rate-shopping exception. When you’re comparing mortgage or auto loan rates, the credit bureaus recognize that you’re shopping for a single loan, not applying for multiple loans.

Equifax: Groups multiple inquiries for the same type of credit product (mortgage, auto loan) within a 14-day window as a single inquiry for scoring purposes.

TransUnion: Allows a more generous 45-day window for the same treatment.

What this means in practice: If you apply for a mortgage with 4 different lenders within a 2-week period, your credit score takes only one hard inquiry hit, not four. This is specifically designed to encourage rate shopping.

Important: This window applies to mortgage and auto loan inquiries. It does not apply to credit card applications. Each credit card application counts as a separate hard inquiry regardless of timing.

Strategy: When mortgage shopping, try to submit all your applications within a 14-day window to stay within both bureaus’ rate-shopping periods.

How Many Hard Checks Are Too Many?

There’s no magic number, but here’s the general framework lenders use:

Hard Inquiries in 12 Months	Lender Perception
0–2	Normal, no concern
3–5	Slightly elevated, may be asked about it
6+	Red flag — suggests credit-seeking behaviour
10+	Serious concern — likely to affect approvals

The concern isn’t just the score impact (which is temporary) — it’s the signal it sends. Multiple applications in a short period suggest you’re either being denied elsewhere or taking on too much credit at once. Both make lenders cautious.

Context matters: A mortgage inquiry followed by an auto loan inquiry is different from 6 credit card applications in 3 months. Lenders consider the type of credit, not just the number of inquiries.

How to Check Your Credit for Free

You can check your credit report and score without any impact to your score. These are all soft checks:

Free credit reports (no score):

Equifax: Request by mail or online through Equifax Consumer Services. Free once per year by mail. Online access may require a paid subscription for the full report.
TransUnion: Request by mail for free. Online access through TransUnion’s consumer portal.

Free credit scores and monitoring:

Borrowell: Free Equifax credit score, updated weekly. No credit card required.
Credit Karma: Free TransUnion credit score and report. No credit card required.
Bank apps: Most major Canadian banks now show your credit score in their mobile app — RBC, TD, BMO, Scotiabank, and CIBC all offer this. The score may be from either Equifax or TransUnion depending on the bank.

Checking your own credit regularly is a good habit. It helps you catch errors, monitor for identity theft, and understand where you stand before applying for credit.

Can You Remove a Hard Inquiry from Your Report?

If it was unauthorized: Yes. If a company pulled your credit without your consent, you can dispute the inquiry with Equifax or TransUnion. You’ll need to provide details about the inquiry and explain that you didn’t authorize it. The bureau will investigate and remove it if the company can’t prove you consented.

If you authorized it: No. Legitimate hard inquiries from applications you submitted can’t be removed early. They’ll remain on your report for 3 years but their impact on your score fades over 12 months.

How to dispute an unauthorized inquiry:

Identify the inquiry on your credit report and note the company name and date
Contact the company directly and ask them to remove the inquiry if you didn’t authorize it
If the company doesn’t cooperate, file a dispute with Equifax or TransUnion (or both)
Provide any supporting documentation proving you didn’t authorize the check
The bureau has 30 days to investigate and respond

The Bottom Line

Soft credit checks are entirely harmless and you should check your own credit regularly. Hard credit checks cause a small, temporary score dip and are a normal part of applying for credit. The key is to be strategic — don’t apply for credit you don’t need, take advantage of rate-shopping windows when comparing mortgages or auto loans, and keep your total hard inquiries to a reasonable number. If you’re planning a major application like a mortgage, avoid other credit applications for a few months beforehand to keep your inquiry count clean.