Credit Karma Canada: Get Your Credit Score for Free

Credit Karma Canada is a popular service that offers free credit score checks. It also offers other tools and services, but its free credit score option is its most appealing feature.

This article explores and explains how Credit Karma Canada works, the various services offered, its top competitors, and much more.

What is Credit Karma Canada?

Credit Karma Canada is a third-party service that lets you check your credit scores for free each week. The company was founded in 2007 on the idea that everyone should have easy, free access to their credit score and data.

It quickly grew within the U.S. before expanding to Canada in 2016.

How does Credit Karma Canada calculate your score?

Credit Karma Canada doesn't actually calculate your credit score. Instead, it simply collects credit score information from TransUnion, 1 of the 2 major credit bureaus in Canada, and reports it to you.

If you spot an error on Credit Karma Canada, check your TransUnion credit report and contact TransUnion if it needs to be corrected.

How does Credit Karma Canada give free credit score reports?

Credit Karma Canada makes money through affiliate marketing. When you sign up and agree to the terms, you'll see offers for credit cards and other financial products that may be a good fit for you. And if you apply through one of their links, they earn a commission from the company offering the product.

Although they don't sell your personal information, you'll probably find that you're bombarded with marketing emails from Credit Karma.

Is Credit Karma Canada legit?

Credit Karma Canada is a legitimate business, not a scam. The company has an impressive 4.5 Trustpilot rating and is open about how it makes money. It's also transparent about its security standards:

• It doesn't sell your personal information or share it with third parties
• It uses 128-bit encryption for site security
• Its dedicated security team instantly responds to security incidents
• It works with third-party security companies to audit and assess site security

Still not sure? More than 140 million people have used Credit Karma to monitor their credit and financial accounts.

Does Credit Karma hurt your credit score?

No, using Credit Karma to check your score doesn't actually affect it, which is really helpful if you're trying to fix a bad credit score and you want to monitor your progress.

Credit Karma does a soft pull (also called a soft "inquiry"), so checking your credit through the platform won't affect your score. This is different from a hard inquiry, which can happen when you apply for new credit. A hard inquiry may cause a small, temporary drop in your score.

Credit Karma Canada features

Checking your credit score with Credit Karma Canada might be the main draw that gets you to the site, but it's not the only service the company provides. Here's an overview of the features and services Credit Karma offers:

• Credit cards: Want personalized credit card recommendations based on your credit score? Credit Karma lists offers that you're likely to be approved for.
• Personal loans: Credit Karma works with LoanConnect to help you access personal loans up to $100,000 for home improvement, big purchases, debt consolidation, and almost anything else you can think of.
• Mortgages: The site partners with Nesto to help you find competitive mortgage rates and sign-up bonuses when you shop for a home loan. They also have a convenient mortgage calculator to help you estimate costs.
• Chequing accounts: Credit Karma partners with banks to recommend chequing accounts that come with sign-up bonuses.
• Financial education articles: Access an archive of 100+ valuable articles that explain your credit score, budgeting, student loans, debt management, and much more.

Be aware that Credit Karma Canada doesn't offer the same services as the U.S. version. For instance, you won't get identity monitoring, in-app tax filing with TurboTax, or Credit Karma Money Spend.

Credit Karma Canada mobile app

Keep an eye on your credit score range with the Credit Karma Canada mobile app. It's available from the App Store and Google Play – both app versions are very well rated:

• Apple App Store: 4.8 stars
• Google Play Store: 4.7 stars

How to get your free credit score from Credit Karma Canada

To get your free credit score through Credit Karma Canada, simply create an account, enter some personal details, and agree to the terms and conditions.

This is what it looks like when you start to create your account:

For the next step, these are the personal details Credit Karma requires to access your TransUnion report:

• Your name
• Date of birth
• Social Insurance Number (optional)
• Address
• Income

Once you agree to the terms and conditions, you're all set. Credit Karma will display your credit score on the following page.

Credit Karma Canada alternatives

Several alternatives to Credit Karma Canada, including third-party services like Borrowell, provide your credit score for free. Plus, most banks – especially the Big 5 – provide clients with access to their Equifax or TransUnion report free of charge.

Take a look at the following table to see how Credit Karma stacks up:

Is Credit Karma Canada good?

Perhaps the best part of Credit Karma Canada's services is that it's free – but the affiliate marketing you're subjected to post-signup can become quite frustrating.

Here are the main pros and cons of Credit Karma Canada:

Credit Karma Canada pros

• Free to use: Checking your credit score and accessing other site features is completely free.
• Recommendations are personalized: If you're in the market for financial products like personal loans, credit cards, or mortgages, Credit Karma recommends options based on your current credit score.
• Educates and informs: Instead of simply showing your credit score, the site explains the factors that affected your score and suggests ways to improve it.

Credit Karma Canada cons

• Affiliate marketing: Credit Karma makes money through affiliate opportunities, so you'll be bombarded with financial product offers. If you don't want your inbox filling up, consider working directly with a credit bureau or bank.
• Only shows your TransUnion credit score: If you're applying for a loan with a lender that checks Equifax, Credit Karma won't show you the score they're likely to see.
• Security isn't as robust: Although it uses 128-bit encryption, Credit Karma's security isn't as strong as the 256-bit encryption used by most banks and Borrowell.

What users think

Whether Credit Karma is a useful financial tool is somewhat subjective, so we turned to Reddit to see what users had to say.

Users note that even with credit scores over 800, the site always tells them their scores "need work:"

As someone pointed out, Credit Karma also wants you to keep using the site and consider signing up for other financial products:

If you're willing to overlook these details and don't mind promotional emails, you probably won't mind using Credit Karma.

FAQ

Is Credit Karma safe?

Yes, Credit Karma is safe. It only runs soft credit inquiries, which don't affect your score, and it protects your information with encryption and other security safeguards. The company has been around since 2007 and is free to use. You can add extra protection by turning on two-factor authentication.

Is a Credit Karma credit score accurate?

Yes, Credit Karma provides accurate scores from TransUnion. This means that if you get your credit score from another site that sources its information from Equifax, it may show a different score than the one Credit Karma provided. This doesn't mean the scores are inaccurate, just slightly different.

Does Credit Karma affect your credit score in Canada?

No, Credit Karma Canada doesn't affect your credit score since it only does a soft credit check. But your score may drop slightly if you apply for credit from a lender recommended by Credit Karma, because that company may perform a hard credit pull.

How do I get a free Credit Karma Canada report?

You can get your Credit Karma Canada score and report from TransUnion for free, simply by opening a free account with Credit Karma. You can log into your Credit Karma Canada account as often as you like, but your score only updates every 7 days.

Why is my Credit Karma score different from my bank?

Your scores can differ because Credit Karma and your bank may pull from different credit bureaus. Credit Karma uses TransUnion, while your bank may use Equifax. Each bureau can hold slightly different information and use its own scoring model, and reports update at different times, so a small gap is normal.

Where can I get my free credit report in Canada?

In addition to Credit Karma, you can get your credit report from your bank, the credit bureaus (TransUnion and Equifax) themselves, and other third-party websites. That said, pay attention to whether you need to sign up for a membership to access the information.