How Long Bankruptcy and Consumer Proposals Stay on Your Credit Report in Canada

A bankruptcy or consumer proposal is reported to both Canadian credit bureaus, Equifax and TransUnion, and stays on your credit report for a set period after it ends. The periods differ by type of insolvency, by bureau and, for TransUnion, by province. This page gives each one, explains when the clock starts and what happens to the individual accounts included, and links to the guide on rebuilding. It is one of our credit score guides.

Retention by bureau and province

These are the periods the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC) gives:

FCAC’s wording for proposals: “Equifax and TransUnion remove a consumer proposal from your credit report: 3 years after you’ve paid off all the debts included in the proposal, or 6 years after you sign the proposal (whichever comes first).” Source: FCAC, How long information stays on your credit report. A debt management plan is set up through credit counselling.

When the clock starts

Bankruptcy: from the discharge, not the filing. A first bankruptcy with no surplus income is usually discharged after 9 months, or 21 months with surplus income; a second takes 24 or 36 months. The retention period runs on top of that, so the record is on your report for longer than the retention period alone suggests. A creditor, the trustee or the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy can oppose a discharge, which delays it further.

Consumer proposal: from completion or signing. A proposal can’t run for more than five years. On a five-year proposal paid as scheduled, the six-years-from-signing limit ends a year after completion, before the three-years-after-payoff limit would, so it is the one that applies. A proposal paid off early can come off sooner: three years after the last payment.

The accounts included

Besides the bankruptcy or proposal itself, each account it covered (credit cards, lines of credit, loans) shows on your report as included in the insolvency. FCAC says information about late or unpaid credit cards and loans stays for up to 6 years. After a discharge or completion, it’s worth checking that each included account shows a zero balance; one still shown as owing is an error you can dispute with the bureau, as described in how to dispute a credit report error.

Proposal or bankruptcy: the credit report difference

A consumer proposal usually leaves a shorter mark than a bankruptcy, and its removal dates are the same at both bureaus in every province. The other differences between the two (what you pay, what you keep, which debts survive) are covered in the consumer proposals and bankruptcy guide.

Checking the dates on your own report

Your report shows the date of the bankruptcy or proposal and its discharge or completion. How to read your credit report explains where each item appears, and checking your credit score for free lists the free ways to get both reports. If a record stays past its removal date, the bureau can be asked to correct it.

Rebuilding while the record is on file

You don’t need to wait for the record to drop off to start rebuilding: new accounts reporting on-time payments start counting right away. How to rebuild credit after bankruptcy or a proposal covers the steps and the products available at each stage, including credit-builder loans. For budgeting and banking after a bankruptcy, see your finances after bankruptcy.