Credit card application fraud in Canada climbed eight per cent year-over-year in Q2 2026, reaching 0.91 per cent of all credit card applications, according to Equifax Canada's latest Market Pulse Fraud Trends and Insights. The increase was driven primarily by third-party identity theft, with true identity fraud the leading source nationally, and it ran counter to declines in auto, mortgage and telecommunications application fraud. The overall consumer application fraud rate stood at 0.66 per cent in Q2, up five per cent from a year earlier, comprising a first-party fraud rate of 0.35 per cent and a third-party identity theft rate of 0.27 per cent. Canadians aged 56 to 65 were the most frequently targeted group, which Carl Davies, Head of Fraud and Identity at Equifax Canada, attributed to fraudsters seeking established cardholders with higher credit limits who check their credit reports less frequently; Quebec recorded the country's highest rate of third-party credit card application fraud. The fraud increase occurred as total consumer debt reached $2.68 trillion in Q2 2026, up 4.18 per cent year over year, with the overall severe delinquency rate rising 11.7 per cent to 0.68 per cent and severe credit card delinquency climbing 6.8 per cent to 4.2 per cent. Auto application fraud fell to 0.21 per cent, almost entirely first-party misrepresentation, while mortgage application fraud declined to 0.20 per cent and telecommunications application fraud fell to 0.32 per cent.
Equifax IncEquifax Canada reports rising credit card application fraud and delinquency, but the article states no clear driver channel for Equifax's own business.
