Building your credit history in Canada.

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What is a credit history?

Your credit history or credit rating starts from day one - the first time you get a credit card in your name, a loan or line of credit from a bank.

A credit history is a collective report about how you have handled and managed debt historically.

Your credit file is like a financial report card. It tracks how much money you borrow, and how quickly you pay it back. Every month when you borrow money, use your credit card or pay bills, information about your financial transactions is sent to a credit-reporting agency. The agency uses this information to come up with your credit rating and your credit score.

Your credit rating contains a number and a letter. The number - between 0 and 9 - shows how fast you pay your bills. "1" means you pay your bills within 30 days of billing date and you've had no more than one late payment, while "9" means a bad debt, a debt been placed with a collection agency, having moved without providing a new address, or Bankruptcy.

Establishing Credit History

As a newcomer you will have to build a new credit history in Canada. Credit cards are one of the most effective ways to build a Canadian credit history. Credit cards can be used as a form of identification when renting an apartment or a car or signing up for a new cell phone. A good credit history and score will also help you when you’re making a significant purchase, such as a car, home or setting up/purchasing a new business.

Build a Strong Credit History

Using and making regular payments on time will help you establish a good credit history. Some helpful tips include:

• Pay your bills in full and on time. Or at least pay the minimum amount shown on your statement.
• Don't go over the limit on your credit card. The higher your balance, the more it affects your credit score.
• Don't apply for credit too often.
• Use a credit card wisely.
• Pay off your debts as quickly as possible.

Credit Reporting Agencies

There are two main credit reporting agencies, also known as Credit Bureaus, in Canada:

• Equifax Canada Inc. (For all provinces except Quebec)

• TransUnion of Canada (For Quebec residents)

These private agencies collect information about borrowers from other credit grantors.

International Credit Reports

Canadian credit-reporting agencies such as Equifax or TransUnion, only collect information from creditors about consumers' financial experiences in Canada. Despite this, financial institutions may be willing to recognize your earlier credit history outside of Canada. This may involve, for example, requesting a copy of your credit report from the credit-reporting agency in the other country. You may want to consider bringing in a copy of your credit report form your home country (if available) and present it with your credit and loan application.

Source: Scotiabank.com

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Quebec Immigrant Investor warming after the New Deal

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Immigration Canada news, federal investment project will be 201,171 migrants from the date of implementation of the New Deal, from 1 to clear the next 630 days will only receive 700 applications. Canadian Immigration Minister Jason · Kenney said that despite the immigration department to improve the investment threshold of immigrants, but still received an excessive amount of applications; to limit the application of the new measures will reduce the backlog process, while ensuring that the amount of the trial department of the trial. For this phenomenon, the general manager Liu Jianjie Shenzhen and made the following analysis:

Has been documented for the applicant is a good news

Taking into account the Canadian Immigration processing of approximately 3000 to 4000 investment immigration applications (some of this capacity has been maintained), the “brakes” for the client application has been submitted is actually a good thing to avoid more crowded, which makes the documented relative to the processing cycle is no longer the customer is more extended.

For the preparation of immigration applicants should be objective and rational

1. The launch of the Canadian Federal Department of Immigration limit 700 applicants for the world, if the Chinese market can be assigned to 400 places, while China’s hundreds of legal immigration agency, shows that “these 700 places into the queue “with considerable difficulty, only the level of policy research and strong professional experience in handling cases have greater ability to help companies more successful delivery of the applicants case. In other words, each of which will test the strength of a company’s overall immigration, work efficiency, the case of sectoral coordination and delivery speed.

2. The applicant in this process should be sufficient to maintain an objective and rational. Applicants should make every effort to prepare the relevant information with immigration company, pre-prepared as possible to save time.

3. Federal and Quebec Immigrant Investor immigrant investment conditions in the application of great similarity, coupled with the end of Quebec to improve the application from the standards, the volume of applications received far less than the amount of the federal application, so if the applicant’s their conditions in line with Canada Quebec Immigrant Investor, you should focus on preparing the application documents submitted to consider Quebec Immigrant Investor program, instead of blindly to competition for limited federal quota. Based on past experience and current situation to determine the federal Reform immigration policy to 71 days after the Quebec Department of Immigration may be adjusted in the near future, so the Quebec investments that meet the conditions of immigration applications to customers, it is recommended to be fully use the current opportunity to plan ahead. (Li)

Source: Finance Online

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Capital region keeps adding jobs

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Published on July 8, 2011

OBJ Staff  
Ottawa Business Journal

The National Capital Region continued its run of strong employment growth last month, adding 2,600 new jobs and pushing the unemployment rate down to its lowest level in more than a year and a half, according to Statistics Canada.

Topics : 

Statistics Canada , U.S. Labor Department ,Canadian Press , Quebec , Ottawa , Ontario

That brings the number of new jobs created in Ottawa and Gatineau in 2011 to 14,100. By comparison, the region added 6,000 new positions in all of 2010.

In June, most of the local growth came in Gatineau, where 1,900 new jobs were added.

The employment gains, combined with a reduction in the size of the labour force in Ottawa, brought the region’s unemployment rate down from 6.1 per cent to 5.8 per cent. That’s the lowest level since November 2009, when it stood at 5.6 per cent.

Year-over-year, the biggest gains were in the service sector, specifically retail, wholesale, transportation, warehousing, accommodations, food services as well as professional, scientific and technical positions.

The region’s tech sector was flat at 46,000 jobs. Despite reports that the federal government has started eliminating positions within the civil service, the number of public administration positions only declined modestly, to 163,600 jobs in June 2011 compared to 164,100 a year earlier.

Nationally, the Canadian economy created 28,000 jobs last month, helped by a gain the part-time jobs to post its third consecutive month of growth.

The country's unemployment rate held steady in June at 7.4 per cent as the number of people entering the workforce increased, according to Statistics Canada.

The increase in jobs was mainly in the part-time sector, which added 21,000 jobs, compared with 7,000 new full-time jobs.

Economists had expected an overall increase of 10,000 jobs.

The public sector added 51,000 jobs in the month, while there were 22,000 new jobs in the private sector.

However, those gains were offset by a drop of 44,000 in the number of self-employed people in Canada.

The gains were led by the transportation and warehousing industry which saw a gain of 15,000 jobs, while the professional, scientific and technical services sector lost 19,000 jobs.

The construction and manufacturing sectors were little changed for the month.

Ontario, Alberta and Nova Scotia all posted employment gains in June, while Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador saw losses.

Employment was up 40,000 jobs in Ontario following a slight drop in May.

South of the border, hiring slowed to a near-standstill last month. Employers added the fewest jobs in nine months and the unemployment rate rose to 9.2 per cent.

The U.S. Labor Department says the economy generated only 18,000 net jobs in June.

-With reports from the Canadian Press and Associated Press

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