90-Day Plan to Improve Your Credit Score

Are you planning a mortgage application in Canada and your credit score is not where it needs to be? This structured 90-day plan will guide you week by week to maximize your score before meeting with an AMF-certified mortgage broker in Quebec. With discipline and the right actions at the right time, an improvement of 30 to 80 points is entirely achievable.

Weeks 1 to 3: Diagnosis and Urgent Corrections

1. Week 1: Obtain and analyze your reports: Order your free credit report from both Equifax and TransUnion. Read each section carefully, referring to the reading guide (capsule G7.1.1). Note every item that seems inaccurate or that you do not recognize. Calculate your overall utilization ratio by adding all your balances and dividing by the sum of all your limits.
2. Week 2: Dispute identified errors: Submit an official dispute with the relevant bureau for each identified error (see capsule G7.2.2 for the detailed process). Attach relevant supporting documents. The bureaus have 30 days to investigate and respond. In Quebec, consumer protection legislation governs this process.
3. Week 3: Settle collection accounts: Contact each collection agency to negotiate full settlement. Demand a paid-in-full clearance letter before making payment. If possible, negotiate removal of the entry from your credit file in exchange for full payment. Keep all correspondence and proof of payment.

Weeks 4 to 8: Credit Utilization Optimization

Credit utilization is the fastest improvement lever at your disposal. The goal is to bring the utilization on each card and your overall utilization below 30%, ideally under 10%. Start with the card having the highest utilization rate. Make extra payments before the statement date (not the due date) so that the balance reported to the bureaus is as low as possible. If your means allow it, consider requesting a credit limit increase on your existing cards to mechanically reduce the ratio.

• Pay down high-utilization card balances as a priority (ratio optimization strategy, not the classic snowball method).
• Make multiple payments per month, ideally before each card's statement date.
• Do not close cards once the balance is paid off: keep them open to maintain your total available credit.
• Avoid any significant new purchases on your cards during this optimization period.
• If you have access to a lower-rate line of credit, consider consolidating high-rate credit card balances.

Weeks 9 to 12: Consolidation and Mortgage Preparation

During the final weeks, the goal is to consolidate your gains and prepare your mortgage file. Continue paying all accounts on time without exception. Check your credit reports again to confirm that disputed corrections have been applied and that settled collection accounts show a zero balance. Gather the documents needed for your mortgage application: pay stubs, fédéral and provincial notices of assessment, bank statements for the last three months, clearance letters for settled collections, and any other documents required by the lender.

Schedule an appointment with your AMF-certified mortgage broker for a preliminary assessment of your updated file. The broker can pull a new credit report and confirm whether your score has reached the threshold needed for your target mortgage product. Remember that mortgage inquiries made within a 14-day window are grouped together, so take advantage of this window for your broker to submit to the lenders most likely to approve your application under OSFI and CMHC requirements.