Credit card fraud rising in Canada, application fraud falling: Equifax Canada report

Credit cards are displayed in Montreal, Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2012. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz

TORONTO — A new report says the second quarter of the year brought a sharp rise in credit card fraud.

Equifax Canada says the rate of credit card fraud jumped to 0.75 per cent in Q2 compared with 0.44 per cent a year earlier.

That means out of every 10,000 credit cards, about 75 are fraudulent compared with 44 last year.

The consumer credit reporting agency says the spike came despite application fraud rates across Canada falling to their lowest point since the third quarter of 2022.

Application fraud is when someone lies or uses stolen information on an application for credit, a loan or another financial service.

Application fraud rates dropped to 0.56 per cent in the second quarter of 2025, down from 0.70 per cent in the previous quarter and 0.57 per cent a year ago.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 1, 2025.