This is the most powerful credit repair rule in Canada — and most Canadians have never heard of it. In most provinces, negative items on your credit file must be removed after 6 years, even if the debt was never paid.
In most Canadian provinces, negative information on your credit bureau file has a maximum reporting period of 6 years from the date of last activity.
Date of last activity means the last time there was any movement on the account — a payment, a charge, a default notice, or when the debt was sent to collections.
After 6 years from that date, the bureau is legally required to remove the item. Regardless of whether the debt was paid. Regardless of whether you ever disputed it.
Most provinces follow a 6-year limit. Exceptions:
• New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, PEI: 7 years
• Quebec: follows its own civil code (generally similar)
• Bankruptcies: first bankruptcy stays 6-7 years after discharge; second stays 14 years
For Ontario residents — where most CreditKO users are — the limit is 6 years.
1. Find the item on your Equifax Canada or TransUnion Canada report
2. Look for 'Date of Last Activity' or 'Date of Last Payment'
3. Add 6 years to that date
4. If that date has passed — the item should already be removed from your file
5. If it's still there — dispute it immediately citing the reporting limit
Say you had a Fairstone loan that went to collections in January 2018. You never paid it. The date of last activity was January 2018.
Six years from January 2018 = January 2024.
If this collection is still on your Equifax Canada file today — in 2026 — it's past its reporting limit. You don't need to argue it's inaccurate. You simply state: this item is past the 6-year reporting limit for Ontario and must be removed under PIPEDA.
CreditKO identifies items past their reporting limit automatically.