To prevent credit score decreases, what are the optimal frequency and number of credit card applications in Canada?

Question

The bolded seems anecdotal; is there any official source?

http://www.moneysense.ca/debt/know-your-credit-score: While you can check your own credit as many times as you’d like, others can only check your rating twice in 12 a month period before that info turns up on your credit rating. “Applying for a loan at five different places shows that a person is having trouble getting credit and may not be financial stable,” says Schwartz. “What happens if they all say yes and now all the sudden you have five times the credit then you did before? There’s a real risk you won’t be able to handle it.”

Battison points out that you can have your credit rating pulled more than twice within two-week if you’re shopping for a mortgage or auto loans. That won’t raise any red flags, she says, it just signals that you’re likely shopping for something specific.

http://www.moneysense.ca/debt/a-score-to-settle: Each credit-card application, however, always counts as a separate inquiry. This is why consumers should be wary of signing up for retail and department store credit cards, says Dan Barnabic. Credit cards from stores like The Brick and Home Depot entice consumers because they offer deferred interest payments that appeal to young families.

But, says Barnabic, signing up for those two credit cards could lower your credit score by 14 points.

Answer 1

There can be no general answer or official source, because the models used to calculate credit scores differ and are trade secrets of the respective organizations. Some credit organizations rely on scores produced by the credit rating agencies, such as Equifax. Other organizations obtain raw data from those agencies, which may include the events of score inquiries by others, and use those data and any other data they may have on you to calculate your credit score according to their proprietary models.

All this means that in some cases, yes, the number of credit applications or score inquiries can affect your credit score value, but you cannot tell when it does, unless you are the developer of the particular scoring model.