Experian discontinuing Canadian operations

I recently requested copies of my credit report from the three reporting agencies in Canada. It took a few weeks to get al three reports, with Experian's report finally arriving last Thursday. When I looked over the package from Experian, I was surprised to see their cover letter stating that they will cease operations as a Canadian credit bureau effective April 17. Here's the notice from their website (emphasis mine):

Effective April 17, 2009, Experian will unfortunately discontinue its Canadian consumer credit bureau operations as a result of the very difficult economic environment in Canada and around the world, which Experian believes will persist for some time. This means that as of April 18, 2009, Experian will no longer be providing credit reports out of its Canadian database regarding any consumer in Canada.

We will continue to respond to ongoing consumer requests for copies of credit reports, as well as handle disputed items and other consumer assistance until April 17. After that date and upon completion of any disputes in process, all consumer information will be deleted from our database and will no longer be available to consumers or creditors.

If you have not previously obtained your credit report from us or initiated a dispute on your Experian credit report, you may wish to contact one of the other credit bureaus for assistance.

So, after this Friday, Experian Canada is closing shop and destroying its records.

That's too bad; their report was by far the slickest-looking of the three that I received this time around.

I've updated my credit report post with this information.