Credit Basics
Foundational Canadian credit terms such as credit files, credit history, revolving credit, and installment credit.
Credit Basics explains the first concepts readers need before a credit report or score means anything. This section defines the building blocks of Canadian consumer credit, including what a credit file is, how credit history develops, and how revolving and installment borrowing differ.
It is the right starting point when a reader is new to Canadian credit, has never reviewed a bureau file before, or keeps seeing the same words across cards, loans, and score discussions without knowing how they connect.
Start Here
In this section
- Credit History
Credit history is the running record of how a borrower has used and repaid credit over time.
- Credit File
A credit file is the bureau record that gathers a consumer's reported credit information.
- Revolving Credit
Revolving credit is borrowing with a reusable limit that can be spent, repaid, and used again.
- Installment Credit
Installment credit is borrowing where a defined amount is repaid through scheduled payments over time.
- Credit Limit
A credit limit is the maximum amount a borrower is approved to use on a revolving credit account.
- Available Credit
Available credit is the unused portion of a revolving credit limit that remains available to borrow.