Credit Report & Score Basics Explained
The five factors that shape your score—payment history, amounts owed, account age, new credit and credit mix—visualized and explained.
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By Financial Debt Recovery Limited Compliance & Editorial Team
Your report and your score are not the same thing
Your credit report is the underlying record: every account, payment and inquiry a creditor has ever reported. Your credit score is a calculated number, typically ranging from 300 to 900 in Canada, that summarizes the risk implied by that report at a single point in time. Both major bureaus generate their own score using proprietary models, so the exact number will vary slightly by bureau even from the same underlying data.
300–900 Typical Canadian credit score range
5 Weighted factors behind every score
Monthly Typical frequency scores are recalculated
The five factors, weighted
Every mainstream scoring model is built from the same five categories of information, though the exact weighting varies slightly by model. The commonly cited approximate weights are shown below.
Notice that the top two factors — payment history and amounts owed — account for nearly two-thirds of the score. That is why our companion guide on improving your credit score focuses on those two levers first.
What the score ranges mean in practice
Lenders group scores into informal risk tiers. While exact cutoffs vary by lender and product, a widely used approximation is: below 560 is considered poor, 560–659 fair, 660–724 good, 725–759 very good, and 760 and above is excellent. Scores above roughly 660 generally qualify for mainstream lending rates, while scores below that threshold often face higher rates, larger deposits, or a requirement for a co-signer.
A score is a snapshot, not a sentence
Because the score recalculates as new information reports — usually monthly — consistent positive behaviour compounds. There is no permanent ceiling imposed by past difficulty, only a rebuilding timeline that responds directly to your current habits.
Common misconceptions
- "Checking my own score hurts it." False — this is a soft inquiry with no score impact whatsoever.
- "I need to carry a balance to build credit." False — paying in full each month builds history just as effectively and avoids interest entirely.
- "My income affects my score." False — income is not part of the credit score calculation at all, though lenders may consider it separately during underwriting.
- "Closing an old, unused card helps my score." Usually false — it can raise your utilization and shorten your average account age simultaneously.