Does Checking Your Credit Score Lower It?

Does checking your credit score lower it? This is one of the most common credit questions Canadians ask. The short answer: no, checking your own credit score does not lower it. When you check your credit yourself, it counts as a soft inquiry, which has zero impact on your score.

Understanding the difference between soft and hard credit inquiries can save you stress and help you monitor your credit health confidently. Let’s break down exactly what happens when you—or a lender—checks your credit.

Ratesopedia’s Take

You can check your credit score as often as you want without any penalty. Only lender-initiated hard inquiries—like when you apply for a credit card or loan—can temporarily lower your score by a few points. The impact is small, short-lived, and far outweighed by the benefits of staying informed about your credit health.

What Happens When You Check

When you check your own credit score through your bank app, a credit monitoring service, or directly from a credit bureau, the inquiry is classified as a soft pull. Soft pulls appear on your credit report but are visible only to you—not to lenders.

These self-checks have no impact on your credit score calculation. You could check your score daily for a year, and it would not change your score by even a single point. This is true whether you use free tools from your bank or paid monitoring services.

In Canada, both Equifax and TransUnion—the two major credit bureaus—treat personal credit checks the same way. They understand that consumers need to review their credit information regularly to spot errors, track progress, and protect against fraud.

Soft vs Hard Inquiries

Credit inquiries fall into two categories: soft and hard. The distinction determines whether your credit score is affected. Understanding which type applies in different situations helps you make informed decisions about when to authorize credit checks.

Soft Inquiries

Soft inquiries occur when you or a company checks your credit for informational purposes, not for a lending decision. These inquiries do not affect your credit score and include:

Hard Inquiries

Hard inquiries happen when you actively apply for credit and authorize a lender to review your full credit report as part of their approval process. These inquiries can temporarily lower your credit score.

Hard Inquiry Impact

When you apply for credit, the hard inquiry typically causes a small, temporary decrease in your credit score. For most Canadians with established credit, the drop ranges from 5 to 10 points, though the exact impact depends on your overall credit profile.

If you have a long credit history, strong payment record, and few recent inquiries, a single hard pull may barely register. However, if your credit file is newer or you’ve applied for multiple credit products recently, the impact could be more noticeable.

Duration on Your Report

Hard inquiries remain visible on your credit report for two years from the date they occurred. However, their influence on your credit score calculation typically lasts only about 12 months. After the first year, the inquiry still appears on your report but stops affecting your score.

This means the visible record of the inquiry outlasts its actual scoring impact. Lenders who review your credit can see inquiries from the past two years, even if those inquiries no longer influence your score.

Rate Shopping Protection

Credit scoring models in Canada recognize that consumers shop around for the best rates on mortgages, auto loans, and student loans. To prevent penalizing smart comparison shopping, multiple hard inquiries for the same type of loan within a short window are typically treated as a single inquiry.

The rate-shopping window varies by scoring model but generally ranges from 14 to 45 days. To be safe, complete your mortgage or auto loan applications within a two-week period. This protection applies specifically to mortgage, auto, and student loan inquiries—not to credit card applications.

Free Credit Check Options

Canadian consumers have multiple free options for checking their credit scores and reports. These services use soft inquiries, so you can check as frequently as you want without any score impact.

Bank and Card Issuer Apps

Most major Canadian banks now offer free credit score access through their mobile apps or online banking platforms. TD, BMO, RBC, CIBC, and Scotiabank all provide this service to their customers, typically powered by TransUnion or Equifax data.

Several credit card issuers also include free score access as a cardholder benefit. You can check your score directly in the TD app, BMO Credit Coach, or through your online banking dashboard without any impact on your credit.

Free Monitoring Services

Direct from Credit Bureaus

You can request a free copy of your credit report directly from Equifax and TransUnion once every 12 months. This is your legal right under Canadian consumer protection laws. The free report includes all your credit information but may not include your numerical credit score unless you pay a fee.

To get your free report, you can order by mail, phone, or online through each bureau’s website. The request is processed as a soft inquiry and does not affect your credit score in any way.

When to Monitor Your Credit

Regular credit monitoring serves multiple practical purposes beyond just knowing your score. It helps you catch errors, detect fraud early, and track your progress toward financial goals. Since checking has no negative impact, you can review your credit as often as makes sense for your situation.

What Affects Your Score More

While many Canadians worry about checking their credit, the factors that actually influence your score matter far more than inquiries. Payment history accounts for 35% of your score, while credit inquiries represent only about 10%.

A single hard inquiry that drops your score by 5 points is far less impactful than maxing out a credit card or missing a payment. Focus your energy on maintaining consistent on-time payments and keeping your credit utilization below 30%.

Bottom Line

Checking your own credit score is one of the smartest financial habits you can develop, and it comes with zero risk to your score. Soft inquiries from personal checks, bank apps, and free monitoring services have no impact whatsoever on your credit rating.

Hard inquiries from credit applications can cause a small, temporary score drop—typically 5 to 10 points—but this impact fades within 12 months. The key is understanding when hard inquiries occur and spacing out credit applications appropriately, especially for cash back credit cards and other consumer credit products.

Rather than worrying about checking your credit, focus on the factors that truly drive your score: paying bills on time, keeping credit utilization low, maintaining older accounts, and avoiding collections. Regular monitoring helps you track these factors and catch errors before they cause problems. Stay informed about your credit health by signing up for our newsletter to receive expert tips and updates on the best financial products in Canada.

Does checking your credit score lower it – FAQ