Establishing a Credit Rating

Many Americans with an excellent credit rating in the US move to Canada and are shocked when utility companies want payment in advance before starting service or they can't get a Canadian credit card or they can't qualify for a mortgage.  This is commonplace because you do not have any kind of credit rating tied to your Social Insurance Number in the Canadian credit agencies.  To resolve this, there are things you can do.

We have seen success in transferring a credit rating to Canada by asking for your entire credit card file in the US (American Express, Visa, Mastercard) to be transferred to the Canadian subsidiary (Visa and MasterCard seem to be the most difficult).  This will take many phone calls to both the Canadian and US sides of your credit card company before you are successful in moving your credit rating and membership rewards points (exchanged at the prevailing exchange rate) to Canada.  This will allow you to get a US credit card and begin establishing your credit rating in Canada.

Second, when you seek credit , tell the underwriter you have an established credit rating in the US.  Provide your Social Security Number and ask them to pull a US credit report from the major credit reporting agencies in the US (like Equifax, Experian or TransUnion).  This should be weighed heavily in the underwriting process that should more than satisfy the US mortgage underwriter or credit card company and result in a favorable interest rate and mortgage terms for you. 

Another alternative is to deposit a fairly large sum of money into a guaranteed investment certificate or money market account at your local bank.  With this money as collateral, the bank is happy to issue a bank credit card through Visa or MasterCard for your use.  As you begin using it, be sure to pay off your balances in a timely fashion to establish a credit rating in Canada.  You should draw your Canadian credit report for the first few years to confirm that your credit rating is getting established in Canada.