What Is the Difference?
A credit report is one source, from a credit bureau. In Canada the two main bureaus are Equifax and TransUnion.1 A tenant screening report is a bundle: it usually includes a credit report, then adds the things a landlord also needs to know and a bureau does not track, such as whether the income is real and how the applicant treated their last landlord.
| Question | Credit report | Tenant screening report |
|---|---|---|
| How has the applicant handled debt? | Yes: accounts, payment history, collections, bankruptcies | Yes, through the credit report it includes |
| Who else has checked their credit? | Yes: inquiries from the last three years | Yes, through the credit report |
| Do they earn what they say? | No; any employer or income shown is as reported, not verified | Usually, from payroll records, bank deposits or confirmed documents |
| Do they work where they say? | Only an employer name as reported to the bureau | Usually, from payroll or an employer check |
| How did they treat past landlords? | No, unless a debt to a landlord went to collections | Usually, from landlord references |
| Are they who they say they are? | Partly: the file matches the name, date of birth and address supplied | Usually, with an identity check against documents |
| Are there tribunal or court records? | Only some court decisions related to credit | Sometimes, depending on the provider’s public-record search |
What a Credit Report Contains
The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada groups a credit report into personal information (name, date of birth, addresses, employers), financial information (credit accounts and payment history, bankruptcies, credit-related court decisions, and inquiries from lenders in the last three years) and other accounts such as phone, internet, utility and mortgage payment history.1
Ontario’s Consumer Reporting Act lets a bureau give a report to someone it believes intends to use it in connection with entering into or renewing a tenancy agreement.2 The same Act keeps older negative items out: most adverse information, including debts, collections and judgments, cannot be reported after about seven years, with exceptions.2 So a credit report is a recent record, not a lifetime one.
For how to read the scores and accounts, see How to Read a Tenant Credit Report in Canada.
What a Credit Report Misses
Three things a landlord usually cares about most are not what a credit report is built to answer:
- Current income. The Consumer Reporting Act allows a bureau to hold an estimated income and places of employment, but these come from what creditors reported, not from a check of the applicant’s pay.2 For a real figure you need a payroll record or bank deposits. See Payroll Verification vs Employment Letter.
- Rental behaviour. Paying a credit card on time is not the same as paying rent on time and leaving a unit in good shape. Landlord references fill that gap, and Ontario law lets a landlord request rental history alongside credit.3
- Whether the report is genuine. A report the applicant downloads and sends you can be altered. Pull it yourself, with the applicant’s authorization, rather than accepting one they supply.
Some public records also sit outside the bureau file. Landlord and Tenant Board orders, for example, are published separately: some orders from 2002 onward are on CanLII, and in 2026 the Board began posting final orders to Ontario’s Open Data Catalogue.6 A screening report may search records like these; a credit report will not show an eviction order unless it produced a debt that was reported.
Criminal record checks are a separate question. The Ontario Human Rights Commission notes that neither the Code nor the tenant-selection regulation permits or prohibits them, that requiring one can have an adverse impact on people protected by the Code, and that they are reasonable only in limited circumstances.4 Don’t treat a screening report’s record search as a licence to screen on it.
When a Credit Report Alone Is Enough
Often, honestly. A full tenant screening report is not always needed. A credit report plus a call to the current landlord is a reasonable file when:
- The applicant has a long Canadian credit history with no recent collections or missed payments.
- You can reach a previous landlord yourself, through contact details you found independently, and they confirm the tenancy.
- The rent is comfortably within what the applicant’s documented income supports, and nothing in the file contradicts it.
- The applicant is renewing or moving within a building you already manage, so you have their payment record.
Ontario law already lets a landlord select or refuse on credit references, rental history and a credit check, alone or in any combination.3 Income, by contrast, may be weighed only together with that information, unless income is all that comes back.3
When You Need More Than Credit
A credit report is weakest exactly where a lot of Ontario applicants are: newcomers, students, people starting over after a separation, and the self-employed. The Ontario Human Rights Commission says landlords cannot equate the absence of a credit rating with a bad credit rating and should not reject applications for a lack of credit history.4 For these applicants, verified income and references are not extras; they are how you assess the application fairly. See Screening Newcomers and Students With No Canadian Credit History.
You also need more when the documents don’t line up: an employer on the credit file that differs from the application, stubs that don’t match the deposits, or a previous landlord you can only reach through a number the applicant gave you.
PropTx Verify’s report includes a soft credit check that does not affect the applicant’s score, employment and income verification through payroll and bank accounts, landlord reference checks and identity verification, and Chat with Report answers questions about a finished report. For what a full report contains, see What Is a Tenant Screening Report?.
What Notice You Owe the Applicant
Both kinds of report can trigger duties under Ontario’s Consumer Reporting Act. If you request a consumer report containing personal information, which the Act defines broadly to cover character, reputation and mode of living, you must first give the applicant written notice.2 If you refuse an applicant wholly or partly because of information from a consumer reporting agency or another source, you must tell them so when you communicate the decision, and on request within sixty days, name the source.2
Get the applicant’s consent before running either. The Privacy Commissioner says a landlord must have the applicant’s consent to share their information with a credit reporting agency, and that a basic credit check needs at minimum the applicant’s name, address and date of birth, not their Social Insurance Number.5 More detail is in What Can a Landlord Ask on a Rental Application in Ontario?.
This page is general information about Ontario law, not legal advice. Whether a particular screening provider is a consumer reporting agency, and what notice a particular decision requires, turns on the facts; get advice from a paralegal or lawyer.
Which Should You Use?
Choose a credit report on its own if the applicant has an established Canadian credit file, you can confirm their rental history yourself and their income is not in doubt. Choose a tenant screening report if the applicant has a thin or no Canadian credit file, the income needs confirming, you cannot independently reach a previous landlord, or you are presenting several applicants and need the same evidence for each.
Questions
Is a Credit Check the Same as Tenant Screening?
No. A credit check shows how an applicant has handled credit. Tenant screening usually includes the credit check and adds verified income, employment, identity and landlord references.
Can a Landlord Refuse an Applicant With No Credit History?
Not for that reason alone. The Ontario Human Rights Commission says landlords cannot equate no credit rating with a bad one and should look at other information, such as rental history and income.4
Does a Landlord Need the Applicant’s SIN for a Credit Check?
No. The Privacy Commissioner says a basic credit check needs at minimum the applicant’s name, address and date of birth, and a landlord cannot require the SIN.5
Should You Accept a Credit Report the Applicant Brings?
Treat it as a lead, not evidence. A downloaded report can be edited. Pull the report yourself with the applicant’s written authorization, which Ontario law allows a landlord to request.3
What Must You Tell an Applicant You Turn Down Because of a Report?
That the decision was based wholly or partly on information from a report or another source, and, if they ask within sixty days, the agency’s name and address or the nature and source of the information.2
Sources
- Credit report and score basics
Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, Who creates your credit report and score; What’s included on your credit report. Accessed October 22, 2026.
- Consumer Reporting Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. C.33
Government of Ontario, e-Laws, s. 1(1) definitions; s. 8(1)(d)(ii); s. 9(3); s. 10(2) and (7); consolidated to July 1, 2026. Accessed October 22, 2026.
- O. Reg. 290/98: Business Practices Permissible to Landlords in Selecting Prospective Tenants for Residential Accommodation
Government of Ontario, e-Laws, s. 1(1) to (5). Accessed October 22, 2026.
- Policy on human rights and rental housing, V. Identifying discrimination in rental housing
Ontario Human Rights Commission, s. 4.2.4 Credit history; s. 4.2.9 Criminal or other police record checks. Accessed October 22, 2026.
- Privacy in the landlord and tenant relationship
Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, What personal information do I have to provide to a prospective landlord?; Does a landlord require my Social Insurance Number?. Accessed October 22, 2026.
- LTB: Operational Update: Increasing Public Access to Final LTB Orders
Tribunals Ontario, July 24, 2026 update. Accessed October 22, 2026.
