Employee Credit Checks by Industry and Why They Matter at the End of the Year

Employee credit checks show employers how a candidate has handled financial obligations, including late payments, collections, judgments and bankruptcies. For roles with cash handling, purchasing authority, client funds or access to sensitive government assets, that history helps employers decide who should be trusted with money. Employers must follow their province’s notice or consent rules before running one.

A credit check answers a question a criminal record check can’t. The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) found in its 2024 Report to the Nations that 87% of occupational fraudsters had never been charged with or convicted of a fraud-related offence. A clean record says nothing about the financial pressure someone is under today.

For the basics of what appears on a report, see our guide on what information you get from a credit check. The questions here are different: which industries get the most from employee credit checks, which roles need a second check, and why the end of the year is a good time to review your approach.

What the Fraud Data Shows

The ACFE has tracked the same warning signs for years. In its 2024 study, living beyond one’s means was the most common behavioural red flag among fraudsters, seen in 39% of cases, and financial difficulties came second at 27%. The ACFE’s Occupational Fraud 2026: A Report to the Nations analyzed 2,402 cases across 143 countries. It found that 84% of fraudsters showed at least one behavioural red flag, and it estimates that organizations lose 5% of revenue to fraud each year.

How Credit Checks Compare to Other Background Checks

Each type of check answers its own question, and a hire for a sensitive role often needs more than one.

“A criminal record check tells you what happened in the past. A credit check tells you about the financial pressure someone may bring into the job. For roles that handle money, we suggest employers look at both.” Tim Hardie, President, Hire Performance

That’s why employers hiring for finance and cash-handling roles often order a criminal record check and a credit check together.

Credit Checks in Four Industries

Financial Services

Banking and financial services produced more fraud cases than any other industry in the ACFE’s 2026 study, with 439. At banks, credit unions, investment firms and insurers, credit checks typically cover roles such as tellers, loan officers, traders and anyone with signing authority over client assets. Our article on credit checks for financial analysts looks at one of those roles closely.

Government and Public Sector

The federal government builds credit history into security screening. Under the Treasury Board Standard on Security Screening, reliability status requires a financial inquiry, which is a credit check, for anyone who needs access to Protected A, B or C information, assets or work sites. For private-sector companies in its Contract Security Program, Public Services and Procurement Canada makes credit checks mandatory at every level of security screening. A check that reveals areas of concern leads to an additional assessment, not an automatic denial. Government and public administration had the second-highest case count in the ACFE’s 2026 study, at 217, and contractors working on government projects face the same credit check requirement as federal employees.

Retail

Retail staff handle cash, refunds, inventory and customer payment data, often with little supervision. The Retail Council of Canada reports that shrink now equals 1.5% of total retail sales, about $9 billion, up from $5 billion in 2018. Internal theft is part of that figure. For retail employers, credit checks make the most sense for store managers, cash office staff, loss prevention and anyone who can approve refunds or adjust inventory. Most frontline hires don’t need one.

Oil and Gas

Oil and gas companies run large procurement budgets, field purchasing and fuel card programs, and many spending decisions happen on remote sites far from head office. In the ACFE’s 2026 study, corruption such as kickbacks and bribery appeared in 45% of cases, and fraudsters with an unusually close relationship to a vendor or customer caused a median loss of $300,000. Buyers, project managers, field supervisors with spending authority and finance staff are the roles where oilfield credit screening fits best.

Roles That Need More Than One Check

A credit check at hiring is a snapshot, and finances change. In all four industries, employers often run new credit checks on employees when:

• An employee is promoted into a role with signing authority or access to client funds
• Someone takes on a fuel card program, a higher purchasing limit or control of a cash office
• A seasonal or contract worker moves into a permanent role with financial duties

A written policy should name the roles that get re-checked and the events that trigger it, so employees know what to expect, and the process is applied evenly.

Why Credit Checks Matter at the End of the Year

Household credit card balances usually grow fastest at the end of the year, and Equifax Canada says missed payments typically climb in January. The 2025 holiday season was milder than usual: around 30,000 fewer consumers missed a payment in January 2026 than a year earlier, yet card balances still reached a record $131 billion.

NerdWallet Canada’s 2025 Holiday Spending Report found that 56% of 2024 holiday shoppers took on credit card debt for gifts, and 28% of them were still paying it off a year later. That seasonal swing sits on top of an already high base. Equifax Canada’s mid-2026 data put total consumer debt at $2.68 trillion, up 4.18% in a year, and the 90+ day credit card delinquency rate at 4.19%, a 6.8% annual increase.

Holiday debt says nothing about whether someone is honest, and a tight January is normal for many households. What the timing does offer employers is a natural checkpoint:

• Seasonal staff hired for the holidays often move into permanent roles in January, sometimes with cash or inventory duties.
• New positions open once annual budgets are approved, which brings a wave of hiring in the first months of the year.
• Year-end is a practical time to confirm which roles require credit checks, refresh consent forms and make sure the process matches current provincial rules.

“We see employers use the end of the year to get their screening policy in order. The aim is to make sure the roles that handle money are covered and that the process is consistent and fair.” Tim Hardie, President, Hire Performance

Provincial Rules Employers Need to Know

Credit checks are legal for employment in Canada, but the requirements change by province, and federally regulated employers follow federal law.

Ontario is a useful example. The Consumer Reporting Act requires written notice before an employer runs a credit check. If the employer then declines to hire someone because of the report, it must tell the person, and on request it must share the name and address of the reporting agency.

If you hire in several provinces and use one consent form for all of them, check before the new year that its wording meets the notice rules in each province.

“If you hire in more than one province, read your consent form against each province’s rules before you reuse it. That is the gap we see most often.” Tim Hardie, President, Hire Performance

How Hire Performance Can Help

Hire Performance has screened candidates for Canadian employers since 1987 and is 100% Canadian owned and operated. Our pre-employment credit checks pull the file directly from Equifax after the candidate gives written consent, and they can be ordered on their own or bundled with criminal record checks, employment verification and reference checks.

Planning your 2027 hiring? Request a demo to see how credit checks fit into your screening process.