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Is my US credit worthless in Canada?

can_usa_97

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May 22, 2010
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I was told by two mortgage brokers in Canada, they would use our history here in the US to help us obtain a mortgage in Canada when we arrived, or shortly there after. However, I did go into some personal details (husband avg salary for last 10 years and downpayment we'd have) so I am not sure how much that factored in or not.
 

CharlotteJ

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Jul 31, 2009
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I myself 've applied for a credit card at my bank and am not sure if they will allow or accept it, but so far no news from the bank advisor, so I 've no idea if they ll accept it or not.

I 've a European credit history off course, a good one, never been late with payments etc and always been paying off the bills on time but he didn't mention anything about going to check out on my European history, either good or bad. So, I suppose that having either a good or a bad credit for those like me from Europe means virtually or seems virtually to having NO credit at all when applying for a Canadian CC!

And I so badly need one, not to buy a home here, but to at least get some stuff up and running!
 

GK

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I can only share my experience... I moved to Canada from the US in 2008 and applied for both Visa and AmEx within the first 3 months. Both got approved with same credit limit as in the US since both CIBC and AmEx Canada ran my US credit history. They didn't do it automatically, I asked them to as I didn't have a credit history in Canada. They did it on the spot and I got approved same day. I bought my house and opened a line of credit 6 months later. At this time I had some Canadian credit history, but the lender still demanded to run my US history.
 
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Calgary27

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Apr 5, 2013
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dacoru said:
I just got my CPR and am ready to land.
Actually I am in the US, and I want to know from those who have lived in the US before if the credit history (good or bad) is reflected in the canadian credit bureau.
I really will appreciate your answers.
mostly.
 

Msafiri

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Nov 18, 2012
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Amex will assist with a 'transfer' or application of a new card when you move countries subject to your credit worthiness in the original country. HSBC Premier banking also 'transfer' your credit to Canada.

Alternativley if you have a bona fide job offer to hand that is stable, full time and credible e.g. Accountant with a well known multinational corporation and you are earning say 60K per year Canadian your bank will likely offer you a card with a 'low' limit say less than 5K...watch this increase after 6-12 months if you pay off on time and keep a less than 30 % revolving balance.
 

mic8400

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Nov 24, 2012
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This is one of those issues where I can see both sides of the issue and not really be able to fault either side. Good to know though, for some this is a fresh start, for others it's a complete let down and waste of past efforts (unless of course you return to your home land)
 

CanuckForEver

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Great post guys! When I moved from USA, I also had to start from scratch. Even though I had Citi bank's cards (totalling $40000 of credit in USA) and asked them to cut me some slack in Canada, they refused to do so. I was using one of those TD credit cards that's secured through your TFSA, frozen for 2 years. But 6 months later along came Walmart and President's choice cards. They were waiting at store entrances practically imploring to apply and also gave me complementary shopping coupons and cash backs. Walmart was initially for $5000 and doubled it in 6 months. Presidents choice was for $3000. Both are excellent in rewarding. For phones, I went with Wind, never paid a penny for my phone, signed a 3 years contract! Mortgage came along after 2 years of my stay in Canada so my credit got built to a decent point. Sill needed a mortgage broker to get a mortgage from my own f@#$%^ Bank(!!!?????), loosers they want to pay for the broker let them pay and the broker was way nicer (and definitely more knowledgeable) to me than my bank's personal banking associate! Now I hold 5 credit cards of which 3 I don't use at all, didn't know why I bought it! Almost every single day when I get a mail from these companies like Canadian tire and AMEX to avail a preapproved $X credit card, my attitude goes only numb because when I wanted they weren't there now they all want to wait at my doorstep. Pretty ironic!

PS: Ironic#2, misplaced mails (to a western name, no offense!) keep coming to my address almost every month at least once or twice. Didn't care for it the first 6 months, then it really irked that I want to see why would someone not care to change their address for such a long time and opened the damned mail(s) anyways. They were all mails from collection agencies. Didn't want to be judgemental, but all I'm saying is no one should be judgemental for that matter sake, in this case the credit card companies!
 

mic8400

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Nov 24, 2012
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CanuckForEver said:
Great post guys! When I moved from USA, I also had to start from scratch. Even though I had Citi bank's cards (totalling $40000 of credit in USA) and asked them to cut me some slack in Canada, they refused to do so. I was using one of those TD credit cards that's secured through your TFSA, frozen for 2 years. But 6 months later along came Walmart and President's choice cards. They were waiting at store entrances practically imploring to apply and also gave me complementary shopping coupons and cash backs. Walmart was initially for $5000 and doubled it in 6 months. Presidents choice was for $3000. Both are excellent in rewarding. For phones, I went with Wind, never paid a penny for my phone, signed a 3 years contract! Mortgage came along after 2 years of my stay in Canada so my credit got built to a decent point. Sill needed a mortgage broker to get a mortgage from my own f @ #$%^ Bank(!!!?????), loosers they want to pay for the broker let them pay and the broker was way nicer (and definitely more knowledgeable) to me than my bank's personal banking associate! Now I hold 5 credit cards of which 3 I don't use at all, didn't know why I bought it! Almost every single day when I get a mail from these companies like Canadian tire and AMEX to avail a preapproved $X credit card, my attitude goes only numb because when I wanted they weren't there now they all want to wait at my doorstep. Pretty ironic!

PS: Ironic#2, misplaced mails (to a western name, no offense!) keep coming to my address almost every month at least once or twice. Didn't care for it the first 6 months, then it really irked that I want to see why would someone not care to change their address for such a long time and opened the damned mail(s) anyways. They were all mails from collection agencies. Didn't want to be judgemental, but all I'm saying is no one should be judgemental for that matter sake, in this case the credit card companies!

Yup! It's a classic case. They don't want you until they need you. C'est la vie!
 

Cheryllove

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Oct 22, 2017
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Port Alice, British Columbia
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Actually my mortgage broker in Canada says they will use my US report as they have some of the same bureaus they use...
My and my husband’s Canadian bank used my US credit report when we secured a mortgage last month. Once I got my Social Insurance number I gave it to them but they still used my US credit history..... which luckily is good.
 

DEEPCUR

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Apr 12, 2016
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My and my husband’s Canadian bank used my US credit report when we secured a mortgage last month. Once I got my Social Insurance number I gave it to them but they still used my US credit history..... which luckily is good.
Did you get a good interest rate based on that?