As a measure to support fraud prevention, Quebec's Bill 53 affords Canadian consumers in Quebec the ability to freeze credit files. The capability to freeze files will need to be developed as the functionality does not currently exist in Canada.
In response to both the bill and development of credit freezing capabilities for consumers, Equifax® Canada is implementing a new freeze designator code that will be generated if a consumer has placed a freeze on their credit file. Equifax® Canada expects that this code functionality will be released across Canada in October, 2022.
In order to accommodate the new code designation, customers accessing Equifax services via an integrated system connection may need to modify existing applications. Details regarding this change, the consumer credit freeze and current use exemptions to the bill can be located here.
Posted: November 1, 2021