Canada.A hard inquiry on your credit file is not harmless. It lowers your credit score, it stays on your file for years, and it signals to every lender who looks that you were recently being assessed for credit. That is why it is supposed to require your knowledge and consent. If a hard inquiry shows up that you never authorized, you are not stuck with it. Here is the plain version of what to do. It is general information, not legal or financial advice.

Keep this handy: we made a free, printable pocket card of these rights. Print it, fold it, keep it on hand.

First, know the difference

There are two kinds of credit checks. A soft inquiry, like checking your own credit or a pre-approved offer, does not affect your score and does not need the same consent. A hard inquiry, the kind a lender runs when you apply for credit, does lower your score, and under Canada's privacy law it requires your consent. The collection of your personal information, which a credit pull is, generally cannot happen without your knowledge and agreement.

Step one: get your credit report and find it

You can get your credit report at no cost from both Equifax Canada and TransUnion Canada. Pull both, because a company may have used only one. Find the unauthorized inquiry, and note the date, the company name, and which bureau it appears on.

Step two: dispute it with the credit bureau

Each bureau has a formal dispute process. File a dispute on the specific inquiry, stating that you did not authorize it. The bureau is required to investigate and to correct or remove information that cannot be verified as legitimate.

Step three: go to the company directly

Contact the company that made the inquiry and ask, in writing, for the basis on which it accessed your credit and for the inquiry to be removed. Keep the correspondence. If they cannot show your consent, they have a real problem, and a written record of your request matters later.

Step four: file a privacy complaint

Pulling your credit without consent is a privacy matter. You can file a complaint with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada under the federal privacy law. If the company is a bank, you can also escalate through the bank's own complaints process and then to the external complaints body and the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada. You can pursue more than one of these at once.

Dispute it with the bureau, demand removal from the company, and file a privacy complaint. You can do all three, and you should keep every piece of paper.

The one thing to remember

Your credit file is yours. A company that reaches into it without your consent is the one out of bounds, not you. Pull both reports, dispute the inquiry, put your removal request in writing, and file the privacy complaint. Keep records of all of it. Quiet persistence, documented, is what gets these reversed.

This guide explains general consumer rights under Canadian privacy law as of 2026. It is journalism, not legal or financial advice. For your situation, consider a community legal clinic or the relevant regulator.