A rough year — lost work, a medical event, a relationship ending — can leave marks that outlast the year by a long way. Late payments, collections, a consumer proposal: they don't vanish when the crisis passes. But they don't stay forever either, and their weight fades as they age, often well before they drop off.
How long the clocks run
- Late payments: roughly six years from the date of the missed payment.
- Collections: roughly six years from the date of last activity.
- Consumer proposals: about three years from completion, or six years from filing — whichever comes first.
- Bankruptcy (first): roughly six years from discharge.
These are general timelines, not legal advice, and the exact treatment can vary between the bureaus and by province. But the shape is consistent: there is an end date, and it is closer than most people fear.
What to do during the wait
The influence of a negative item decays as newer, positive data piles up on top of it. So the recovery isn't passive. Keep one card active and paid before the statement closes. Keep utilization low every cycle. Let the clean months accumulate. You are not erasing the past — you are outweighing it, one reported cycle at a time.