Is 680 a Good Credit Score in Canada? What It Gets You in 2026

Short answer: A 680 credit score is good in Canada, but only just. On the 300–900 scale, Equifax Canada counts 660 to 724 as good, so 680 sits in the lower half of that band. It clears the usual bar for an insured mortgage, prime car financing and a mainstream unsecured card, and it sits roughly 45 points below 725, where the best pricing generally starts.

Is 680 a good credit score in Canada?

Yes — 680 is a good credit score in Canada, sitting in the lower half of the good band rather than at the top of it. A credit score is a three-digit number that estimates how likely you are to repay borrowed money on time, and 680 reads to a lender as low enough risk to approve on normal terms.

According to Equifax Canada, credit scores from 660 to 724 are considered good, and lenders generally see borrowers at 660 and up as acceptable or lower-risk. A 680 credit score clears that threshold by 20 points on a scale that runs from 300 to 900, which is why 680 is the number most prime lenders in Canada quote as their working minimum. It is not, however, the number that buys the best rate.

That distinction is the whole story of a 680 file. Approval and pricing are two different decisions, and 680 usually wins the first one and loses the second. If you want the full ladder rather than this one rung, we set out what counts as a good credit score in Canada by goal separately.

Where does 680 sit on the Canadian credit score range?

680 sits 20 points into the good band and 45 points below very good. The Canadian credit score range runs from 300 to 900 — the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada states that scores usually range from 300 to 900 and that a higher score is better — and the bands below are the ones Equifax Canada publishes.

The table shows each band on the Equifax Canada credit score scale and what a file at that level is typically offered.

Band	Equifax Canada range	What it usually means in practice
Poor	300–559	Declines are common; approvals come with deposits, co-signers or subprime pricing
Fair	560–659	Approvable, but on the worst terms on the board
Good	660–724	Mainstream cards, car financing and most mortgages open up — 680 is here
Very good	725–759	Best-tier pricing at most lenders
Excellent	760–900	No meaningful pricing advantage over very good in most products

Two cautions about reading your own number against that scale. First, these bands are Equifax Canada's, and they are the ones to use if you are checking a 680 against a lender's policy, because most Canadian lenders pull Equifax Canada. Second, TransUnion Canada publishes no equivalent band labels at all: TransUnion Canada states only that a credit score is usually between 300 and 900 and that each lender decides which score range it considers a good or poor credit risk.

For context on where 680 sits among actual Canadians rather than among bands: industry estimates for 2026 put the average credit score in Canada near 672. A 680 is therefore slightly above typical, and about sixty points below where lenders stop competing on whether to approve you and start competing on price.

What does a 680 credit score get you in Canada?

At 680 you generally qualify for an insured mortgage, prime car financing, a mainstream unsecured credit card, a rental with a property manager and a phone plan with no security deposit. What 680 does not generally get you is the lowest advertised rate on any of them.

The table lists the products Canadians most often apply for, the score at which the answer is usually yes on normal terms, and what 680 costs you against a stronger file. Treat these as general lender practice as of 2026, not hard cutoffs: every lender sets its own policy and weighs income and debt load alongside the score.

What you are applying for	Usual bar	Where 680 lands	What it still costs you
Insured mortgage (CMHC-backed)	600	Comfortably clear	Nothing at the insurer; the rate is set by the lender
Uninsured mortgage from an A lender	680	Exactly at the bar	A higher rate tier than a 720 file, and more documentation
Car loan at prime rates	670	Clear	Promotional 0% financing usually still out of reach
Mainstream unsecured credit card	660	Clear	A smaller starting limit than a 700+ file
Apartment through a property manager	620	Comfortably clear	Usually nothing
Phone plan on contract	600	Comfortably clear	Usually nothing

Read the second and fourth columns together. A 680 credit score passes nearly every gate a Canadian consumer meets, and pays a premium at nearly every one of them. That premium is small on a phone plan and large on a mortgage, which is why the value of improving a 680 depends entirely on what you are about to apply for.

Can you get a mortgage with a 680 credit score in Canada?

Yes. A 680 credit score clears both the mortgage insurer's floor and the score most prime lenders want to see, so 680 is generally enough to buy a home in Canada on A-lender terms.

According to CMHC, at least one borrower or guarantor on an insured mortgage application must have a minimum credit score of 600, and the purchase price or lending value must be below $1,500,000. CMHC also caps the gross debt service ratio at 39% and the total debt service ratio at 44%, calculated at the greater of the contract rate plus 2% or 5.25%. A 680 credit score therefore sits 80 points above the insurer's published minimum as of 2026.

Clearing the insurer is not the same as getting a good mortgage. Below 680 you are usually looking at a B lender, an alternative lender or a credit union, which means a higher rate, a lender fee and often a one- or two-year term. At 680 you are inside the A-lender door but at the bottom of its rate card; at 720 and up, lenders compete on price rather than on whether to say yes. The CMHC purchase programme rules set the floor; the lender sets the price. Our guide to the score a mortgage underwriter wants to see covers the rest of the file review.

One timing rule is worth more than any score tactic here: do not open anything new in the 90 days before you apply. Fresh inquiries and brand-new accounts are what an underwriter flags, and a 680 file that has been stable for a quarter reads better than a 690 file that improved last week.

Is 680 enough for a car loan or an unsecured credit card?

Yes to both, at prime terms rather than promotional ones. A good credit score in Canada for a car loan starts around 670, so 680 lands in the prime tier, and a mainstream unsecured credit card generally opens up at 660.

Canadian auto lending is tiered more sharply than any other consumer product, and the tier is set almost entirely by the score. Prime runs from roughly 670 up, with rates typically around 5–9%. Near-prime covers roughly 620 to 669 at about 8–14%. Below 620 is subprime, at 10–20% or more. A 680 credit score sits 10 points inside prime, which is enough for the tier and not enough for a manufacturer's 0% promotion — those are usually reserved for files above 720. Our guide to the score car lenders want before they price you at prime breaks the tiers down by lender type.

On cards, 680 gets approval at mainstream issuers but a conservative starting limit, which creates a quiet problem: a small limit makes your utilization look high even on modest spending. One common fix is a second tradeline. A tradeline is any single credit account reported to a bureau, and AvenaCredit members can add a secured card as a second Equifax tradeline for $9.99 a month on a refundable deposit of $250 to $5,000.

Is 678, 682 or 685 any different from 680?

To almost every lender, no. A 678 credit score, a 682 and a 685 all sit in the same good band, get read by the same policy rules and are priced the same way, because lenders tier by band and by policy cutoff, not by single points.

There is one exception worth knowing. Some lenders set a policy cutoff at exactly 680, and a file at 678 can miss a tier that a file at 682 clears — not because two points changed the risk, but because an automated rule drew a line there. That is the only situation in which the difference between 678 and 682 is worth anything, and it is also the reason not to apply when you are sitting two points under a round number.

The second reason not to obsess over the exact digit: the number you are looking at probably is not the number the lender sees. The FCAC notes that your score may differ from the one a lender sees, because lenders may weight certain information more heavily, and the free apps Canadians use report different models on different dates. If your apps disagree by thirty points, that is normal rather than an error on someone's part.

How far is 680 from 700, 725 and 760?

680 is 20 points from 700, 45 from 725 and 80 from 760 — and only the first two of those steps change anything material. The table shows what each step buys.

Target	Points from 680	Band	What actually changes
700	+20	Good	Larger card limits, fewer manual reviews, more lenders quoting you
725	+45	Very good	Best-tier pricing at most lenders; the step that saves real money
760	+80	Excellent	Little beyond 725 in most products; largely a label
900	+220	Top of scale	Nothing — no Canadian lender prices 850 better than 780

The honest version of this table is that the 45 points between 680 and 725 are the only ones with a price attached. On a $30,000 car loan over 72 months, the gap between a prime rate and a near-prime one runs well over $100 a month, and on a mortgage the same tier difference compounds over decades. Above 725 the returns flatten hard, and chasing 850 is a hobby, not a financial plan.

What is the fastest way to move a 680 credit score up?

Pay down your reported balances first — utilization is the fastest-moving factor on a 680 file and the only one you can change this month. Utilization is the share of your available credit that is showing as used on the statement date, and it carries roughly 30% of the score, second only to payment history at about 35%.

1. Get every card under 30% of its limit, then under 10%. This is the single largest short-term move available, and it reports within one statement cycle.
2. Pay before the statement date, not the due date. The balance your bureau sees is the one on the statement, so paying early is what lowers reported utilization.
3. Stop applying for 90 days. New credit and inquiries carry about 10% each; a quiet file scores better than an active one.
4. Never miss a payment, by even a day. Payment history is about 35% of the score, and a single 30-day late can cost a 680 file more than a year of careful utilization gains.
5. Add a reported tradeline only if your file is thin. If you have two accounts and three years of history, volume is your constraint; if you have six accounts and a 70% balance, it is not.

That last point is where we will talk you out of buying something. What we see in members' Equifax reporting is that the files which move fastest are thin ones — two or three accounts, short history, no derogatory marks. A 680 built on a single maxed card does not need another tradeline; it needs that card paid down. Adding an account to a file whose only problem is a balance mostly just adds an account.

If your 680 is thin rather than damaged, adding a reported account is the lever. AvenaCredit's Starter plan is $24.99 a month and reports a $1,000 instalment tradeline to Equifax Canada, with balance alerts that tell you the exact amount to pay before the statement date, a dashboard with tips and a free ebook. The first report appears on your Equifax file 30 to 45 days after the first payment. Members gain an average of 71 points after 12 months — roughly the distance from 680 to the top of the good band, though what any individual file does depends on what is already on it. You can see what each plan reports before deciding.

Common questions

Is 680 a good credit score to buy a house in Canada?

Yes. A 680 credit score clears CMHC's published minimum of 600 for at least one borrower on an insured mortgage, and it meets the score most prime A lenders want. You will be approved, but priced at the bottom of the A-lender rate card rather than the top, as of 2026.

What is a good Equifax credit score in Canada?

Equifax Canada counts 660 to 724 as good, 725 to 759 as very good and 760 and above as excellent, on a 300 to 900 scale where an 800 score sits well inside the top band. Anything from 660 up is generally read by lenders as acceptable or lower-risk. A 680 Equifax score is good, in the lower half of that band.

Is the average credit score in Canada higher or lower than 680?

Lower. Industry estimates for 2026 put the average credit score in Canada near 672, which places 680 slightly above typical. Being above average is not the same as being well priced, though: the average Canadian sits in the good band and still pays more than a borrower at 725.

Can I get approved for a personal loan with a 680 credit score?

Generally yes, at a bank or credit union rather than a subprime lender. At 680 the score is rarely the deciding factor on a personal loan; income and total debt load usually are. Expect a mid-tier rate, and expect the lender to look hard at your existing payments.

How long does it take to go from 680 to 720 in Canada?

Usually six to twelve months, and faster if high utilization is the cause. Paying balances down below 10% can show up in one statement cycle. Rebuilding length of history or recovering from a late payment takes far longer, because those factors move with time rather than with action.

A 680 credit score in Canada is a working score, not a finished one: it opens almost every door and gets you the second-best price behind each. If your apps are showing you three different numbers around 680, start with why your credit score is different on each app; if high balances are what is holding the number down, the 30% utilization rule has the arithmetic. When you are ready to add a reported tradeline, compare the three plans.