AI agents for business finance: what they can and can't do
What AI agents can do in bookkeeping, close, collections and compliance today, where a person must stay in charge, and how to judge a product.
The short answer
A tenant credit check pulls your Canadian credit report from Equifax or TransUnion: your identity details, credit accounts and how you have paid them, collections, bankruptcies or court decisions, certain banking problems and lenders' inquiries from the last three years. Canadian bureaus only record credit activity in Canada, so a newcomer's report is often thin or empty; the usual answer is to offer proof of income, references and, where needed, a guarantor.
What is on the report the landlord sees
The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada's page on credit report basics (modified 1 July 2026) lists what a Canadian credit report can contain:
| Section | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Personal information | Name, date of birth, current and past addresses and phone numbers, SIN, driver's licence and passport numbers, past and current employers |
| Credit accounts | Credit cards, loans, lines of credit, retail cards, mortgages: when opened, balance, payment history, over-limit, collections |
| Banking information | NSF payments, bad cheques, accounts closed for cause such as money owing or fraud |
| Public records | Bankruptcies and court decisions related to credit |
| Collections | Debts passed to collection agencies |
| Inquiries | Lenders who requested your report in the last 3 years |
| Other accounts | Phone, internet and utility accounts; mortgage payment history |
| Alerts and notes | Fraud alerts, identity verification alerts, consumer statements |
The landlord may also see a credit score, a three-digit number usually between 300 and 900. Landlords are among the groups the FCAC names as able to request your report.
Your consent
In most provinces, the FCAC says, a business or individual must have your consent before checking your credit; signing an application that includes the check counts as consent. In Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Saskatchewan they only need to tell you they are checking. Steps to Justice, the Ontario legal information service run by CLEO (reviewed 14 March 2024), lists permission to run a credit check among the things an Ontario landlord can ask for, along with your income, whether and where you work, references from past landlords and, in some cases, a guarantor.
The same page says a landlord may not ask questions that could be used to discriminate, including about citizenship, marital status, children, religion, ethnic background, or welfare and public assistance.
What the report does not show
The FCAC list does not include your salary, your savings or your rent history as a separate item. A credit report shows how you handle credit, not how much you earn or whether you paid a previous landlord on time. That is why landlords ask for income proof and references alongside the check, and why those documents carry more weight when the report itself is short.
Why a newcomer's file looks thin
The FCAC page is plain on this: Equifax and TransUnion only collect information about credit activity in Canada. Years of good conduct with a bank in Lagos do not appear. A newcomer in their first months may have no file at all, or a file with one new phone contract and a fresh credit card. To the landlord, that is an absence of evidence rather than bad news, but it still has to be filled.
How to explain a thin file
Put the explanation in writing with the application, so the landlord does not have to ask:
- Proof of income. An employment letter with salary and start date, recent pay stubs, or for students a sponsor letter and proof of funds.
- Bank statements. Canadian statements showing salary arriving and rent-sized balances; statements from home can support them.
- Landlord references. A letter from your landlord in Nigeria with contact details. See getting a landlord reference from Nigeria.
- Your own credit report. Checking your own report does not affect your score, the FCAC says. Showing a short but clean file helps. See checking your Equifax and TransUnion score.
- A guarantor where the landlord asks for one.
- A foreign credit report, if you can obtain one. The FCAC notes that some lenders review credit history from another country.
A short cover note
Example only. "I moved to Canada from Lagos in June on a work permit and started as a pharmacy technician on 1 July at $52,000 a year (letter attached). My Canadian credit file is new and shows one card, paid in full. I attach three months of pay stubs, bank statements, and a reference from my landlord in Lekki for the past four years." A landlord reading that knows why the file is short and what stands in for it.
Check your report before the landlord does
Errors happen: a mismatched date of birth, an address you never lived at, or an account you did not open. The FCAC has a separate page on checking your report for errors and fraud. Correcting a mistake is easier before a viewing than after a refusal. If a hard inquiry from a landlord appears, it will be listed among inquiries for up to three years.
Where Pryme fits
Some newcomers keep savings in Nigeria while they settle. A Pryme account statement can show naira, USD, GBP or EUR balances held in one place, and through VerifyDoc.ai you can generate a verifiable statement that a landlord can check is genuine and unaltered. See verifiable receipts and statements and the account.
Questions people ask
What does a landlord see on a credit check in Canada?
Your identity details, credit accounts and payment history, collections, bankruptcies, certain banking problems such as NSF payments, and lenders' inquiries from the last three years, plus usually a score between 300 and 900.
Can a landlord run a credit check without my permission?
In most provinces they need your consent, which you usually give by signing the application. In Nova Scotia, PEI and Saskatchewan they need only tell you.
Does my Nigerian credit history show in Canada?
No. The FCAC says Canadian bureaus only collect information about credit activity in Canada.
How can I rent with no credit history in Canada?
Offer proof of income, bank statements, landlord references from home, your own credit report and, if asked, a guarantor. In Ontario a landlord cannot demand more than one month's rent as a deposit.
Sources
- FCAC: Credit report and score basics (modified 1 July 2026) · accessed Oct 2026
- Steps to Justice: What information can a landlord ask me for? (reviewed 14 March 2024) · accessed Oct 2026
- Steps to Justice: Do I have to pay a deposit when I rent a new place? (reviewed 17 June 2021) · accessed Oct 2026
This article is general information, not financial, legal or tax advice. Products described are provided under the terms on this site and are subject to regulation and eligibility.