The agency said it tested small amounts of rental payment data to evaluate its suitability.
An Equifax study found that incorporating “alternative data” could improve or improve the credit scores of tens of millions of Canadians.
“Equifax Canada has pioneered and modeled how rent payments, just like mortgage payments, can help build credit,” said Sue Hutchison, president and CEO of Equifax Canada, in a press release.
“This is so important for young Canadian consumers, new Canadians and other underserved consumers.”
The federal government is looking on credit agencies, banks and fintechs to assist tenants
The federal government announced last month that it might consider rent payment history for credit scores.
“Renters are important and young Canadians invest a lot of their hard-earned money in rent. We believe this should matter much more,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said as he announced several initiatives to support renters on March 27.
In its budget last week, Ottawa called on banks, fintechs and credit reporting agencies to prioritize rolling out tools that will allow tenants to report their rent payment history.
This could help more renters turn out to be homeowners, the federal government said, as a history of paying rent on time could improve credit scores and make it easier to qualify for a mortgage or a lower rate of interest.
