A new class action against Equifax and TransUnion could pay Quebecers up to $10,000 each
If you've ever tried to get an error corrected on your credit report and hit a wall, a newly filed class action lawsuit may be relevant to you.
Montreal law firm Klyden Legal filed a class action against Equifax and TransUnion on May 5, targeting both of Canada's major credit bureaus over their alleged failure to correct inaccurate information in consumers' credit files. Each eligible class member could receive up to $10,000 in compensation.
What's the lawsuit about?
The case was initiated by two Quebec residents, Pascal Leduc and Kevin Villeneuve, who say they experienced firsthand the consequences of credit files riddled with errors.
Villeneuve's situation is particularly striking. In 2025, he began receiving alerts from Equifax indicating that a new mortgage had been added to his credit file.
The problem: the mortgage wasn't his. Equifax had mixed up his information with another consumer who shared a similar name. Despite getting the error corrected, it reappeared four times over the course of several months, forcing Villeneuve to file complaints with police, the Privacy Commissioner, and the Autorité des marchés financiers.
The lawsuit alleges that Equifax and TransUnion have systematically failed their legal obligation to maintain accurate, up-to-date files and to process correction requests in a timely manner.
Among the specific failures cited: not responding to correction requests within the 30-day window required by law, refusing to provide written explanations when rejecting a correction request, and repeatedly reintroducing incorrect information that had already been removed.
Who's eligible?
The class covers all individuals residing in Canada who requested a correction to their credit report from Equifax or TransUnion regarding inaccurate personal information since May 5, 2023, and whose correction was not made properly or in a timely manner.
The scale of the problem could be significant. Court documents cite data suggesting roughly 5.37 million Quebec credit files contain errors, with nearly 60% of error cases requiring at least two correction requests.
How much could you get?
The lawsuit seeks $5,000 in compensatory damages per class member for stress, inconvenience, lost time, legal fees, and other consequences of a faulty credit file, plus another $5,000 in punitive damages, for a potential total of $10,000 per person.
Klyden Legal argues that both agencies were well aware of the problems with their systems, pointing to U.S. legal actions as evidence.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau fined Equifax $15 million in January 2025 for ignoring consumer evidence in correction requests and for using faulty software that generated incorrect credit scores. TransUnion, meanwhile, settled a U.S. class action for $23 million in 2025, affecting roughly 485,000 people.
What should you do?
The lawsuit has been filed but still needs to be authorized by the Quebec Superior Court before it can proceed as a class action. Registration is not required to be part of the class, but signing up through Klyden Legal's website allows the firm to keep members informed of developments.
For more information, you can visit klyden.ca.
This story was inspired by the article "Action collective contre Equifax et TransUnion : Tu pourrais recevoir jusqu'à 10 000 $" which was originally published on Narcity.
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