Hard vs. Soft Credit Inquiries: What Actually Hurts Your Score
By Jordan Ellis · Published · Reviewed
Quick Answer
A hard inquiry happens when you apply for credit and can cost a few points and generally affects your score for about 12 months, though it stays visible on your report longer (3 years at Equifax Canada, and up to 6 years at TransUnion). A soft inquiry — checking your own score, pre-approvals, employer checks — never affects your score. Scoring models generally treat several mortgage or auto loan inquiries within a short shopping window as a single search.
The two kinds of credit checks
Every time someone pulls your credit, it’s logged as one of two types:
Soft inquiries — you checking your own score, lenders screening you for pre-approved offers, employers and landlords (with permission), insurance quotes, existing creditors reviewing your account. Soft pulls are invisible to lenders and carry zero score impact, always.
Hard inquiries — you formally apply for credit: a card, loan, mortgage, apartment lease (sometimes), utility account. A hard pull means “this person is seeking debt,” and the score deducts a few points as a statistical precaution.
What a hard inquiry actually costs
Less than the internet fears. For most people: 5 points or fewer, fading within 3–6 months, ignored entirely after 12. For thin files (few accounts, short history), up to 10. What genuinely hurts is the pattern: six card applications in a quarter reads as financial distress and compounds far beyond the individual deductions.
The rate-shopping windows (use them)
Scoring models know that shopping for the best mortgage or auto loan is responsible behavior, so they deduplicate:
- Scoring models typically deduplicate multiple mortgage or auto loan inquiries made within a short shopping window, commonly around 14 days or more depending on the model.
The safe play: do all your rate shopping inside a 14-day window — it satisfies every model. Get 4 mortgage quotes in one week; it costs one inquiry. Our pre-approval guide covers the document side.
Hard pulls that surprise people
- Credit limit increase requests at some issuers (ask if it’s a soft pull first).
- Apartment applications and some utility/cell phone setups.
- “Buy now, pay later” — most use soft pulls, but some providers hard-pull for longer financing plans.
- Business credit cards — many report the inquiry (and sometimes the account) on your personal file.
Practical rules
- Check your own reports freely and often — free from Equifax Canada and TransUnion Canada, and checking them is a soft pull that costs nothing.
- Pre-qualify before applying whenever it’s offered.
- Batch mortgage/auto shopping into 14 days.
- One application at a time otherwise; wait 3–6 months between card applications.
- Dispute only the inquiries you genuinely didn’t authorize.
The bottom line
Hard inquiries are a minor, temporary tax on seeking credit — worth respecting, not fearing. A single application costs a few points for a few months; the borrowing you do afterward matters infinitely more. Worry about payment history and utilization (see how credit scores work); let inquiries be the footnote they are.
Official sources
Rules and dollar limits change. Confirm current amounts with the official pages below before you act · Last reviewed .
- Credit report and score basics (Financial Consumer Agency of Canada)
- Equifax Canada: personal credit (Equifax Canada)
- TransUnion Canada (TransUnion)