Credit information is gathered by credit reporting agencies, sometimes called credit bureaus. There are two major credit reporting agencies in Canada: Equifax Canada and TransUnion of Canada. Governed by provincial and federal laws, they store and maintain credit information about individual Canadians for use by members of the credit reporting agencies. These members include banks, financing companies, auto leasing companies, credit card companies, and retailers. Credit grantors update individual credit files regularly by providing information to credit reporting agencies about their customers' credit and payment activities. This ensures that credit files remain up-to-date and as complete as possible. Other sources of the information contained in your credit report can include collection agencies and public records from courthouses across the country. Whether you make or miss a payment, this fact will be added to your file. When you give permission to a credit grantor to look at your credit file, this history is available for them to review. Years ago, the gathering and storing of credit information was done manually — credit bureau employees created actual paper files and updated them one at a time. Now, credit grantors send data in electronic form to a highly efficient and secure computer environment.