In Canada, they dwell a lot more on your credit history when it comes to things like getting loans, credit cards, house loans, vehicle leasing, even renting goods and doing the whole interest free thing. It’s similar to Australia, but more obvious, as pretty much everything hinges on this. – if you haven’t got credit history behind you, then you are going to find it a lot more difficult to get the pretty things in life that you may have taken for granted in Australia. They don’t tend to take into account how much you are earning as much as they would in Australia, and 99% of you aren’t going to have someone in Canada who can guarantor you for a loan or whatever.
When you land, you most likely aren’t going to have any credit history, and institutions won’t really trust anyone who has less than a year’s worth of credit history anyway. So to build it up, you need to play by their rules and get yourself a credit card or two (in the first year you’ll probably have to put some collateral down, as explained in the Bank Account article), as well as perhaps a phone account, and make sure you always pay them on time. This builds up your credit history, and over time you’ll develop more and more good history.
If you screw up and you forget to pay something, then you get a black mark on your credit history. A few of these over the years and your credit history will start to suck, and you won’t be able to get loans without paying a high rate. If you are in Canada long enough, your credit history rolls over after 8 years, but that’s a while to wait before you can get a bank loan or get a good credit card.
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