Search Corporations Canada: Federal Corporation Lookup

TL;DR. Canada splits corporate registration across a federal registry (Corporations Canada, under ISED) and ten provincial registries. This guide covers the federal side: the Corporations Canada hub at https://ised-isde.canada.ca/site/corporations-canada/en and its search form, titled Search for a Federal Corporation. Certified document fees in CAD are not published on those pages; confirm at source. The provincial registries are outside this guide’s scope. No account and no Canadian identity document is required for the federal search form, and the interface is in English and French.

What is the official Canada business registry?

Canada does not have a single national company registry covering all entities. Corporate registration is divided between two levels of government.

The federal registry is Corporations Canada, operated by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) under the Canada Business Corporations Act (CBCA, R.S.C. 1985, c. C-44) and the Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act. The hub is at https://ised-isde.canada.ca/site/corporations-canada/en, and its search form is titled Search for a Federal Corporation. Corporations Canada covers entities that chose to incorporate federally, which confers the right to operate under the same name in all provinces and territories. It does not cover provincially incorporated companies. This guide covers the federal registry only.

Provincial registries operate independently. The largest are:

• Ontario Business Registry (OBR): ontario.ca/page/ontario-business-registry. Covers Ontario-incorporated companies.
• BC Registries and Online Services: bcregistry.gov.bc.ca. Covers British Columbia-incorporated entities.
• Registre des entreprises du Quebec (REQ): registreentreprises.gouv.qc.ca. Quebec entities; interface is primarily in French.

For a foreign compliance buyer, the correct starting point depends on where the company was incorporated. Many Canadian companies of commercial significance are federally incorporated under the CBCA, which makes Corporations Canada the first stop.

What can you search?

Corporations Canada (federal; search form titled Search for a Federal Corporation):

• Search by corporate name, corporation number, or Business Number (BN) issued by the Canada Revenue Agency
• Partial name match is supported
• Returns: corporation type, status (active, dissolved, amalgamated, discontinued), date of incorporation, province or territory of registered office, and the governing legislation (CBCA, CNCA, etc.)
• Corporate profile shows directors, registered office address, and date of last annual return

Ontario Business Registry (outside this guide’s scope):

• Search by business name or Ontario Business Identifier (OBI)
• Basic name and status search
• Paid products historically include a profile report, document copies, and a certificate of status. No CAD figures are published on the federal form; confirm at source.

BC Registries (outside this guide’s scope):

• Search by name or incorporation number
• Basic search and certified-document fees are not published on the federal form

The federal search excludes companies incorporated under provincial law, financial institution charters (banks, insurance companies), and Crown corporations. A thorough Canadian counterparty check should cover both the federal and the relevant provincial registry.

How much does it cost?

Certified document fees in CAD are not published on the federal pages (the hub and the Search for a Federal Corporation form), so the table above reads unknown rather than free; confirm at source. Ontario and BC tariffs are outside this guide’s scope.

Do you need a local account or ID?

For the Corporations Canada search form (titled Search for a Federal Corporation), no account and no Canadian identity document are required. The portal is open to international users.

To order paid documents such as a Certificate of Compliance or certified copies, users must create an account through the ISED Online Filing Centre. Account creation requires an email address and a credit card for payment. No Canadian Social Insurance Number or other local identity document is required from foreign applicants.

Provincial registry account requirements vary. Ontario’s Business Registry allows basic searches without an account. British Columbia requires an account for some services. Quebec’s REQ allows basic search without an account.

Is the website in English?

Yes. Corporations Canada operates in both English and French, and users can select their preferred language. The search interface, document descriptions, and help content are fully available in English. Provincial registries are generally bilingual (English and French) or English-only, except Quebec’s REQ, which defaults to French with an English-language option available.

What’s the turnaround time?

Unknown. The Search for a Federal Corporation form publishes no turnaround time; confirm at source. Online certificate, mail request and Ontario Business Registry order times are outside this guide’s scope.

Is there an API?

No public API is available for Corporations Canada or the major provincial registries as of May 2026. Bulk data products exist in some provinces: British Columbia offers data extracts through BC Registries, and Ontario has some integrations for authorized service providers. No federal open API for live registry queries exists.

Compliance platforms integrating Canadian company data at scale typically use a commercial data provider (see “Local data suppliers” below) that maintains a refreshed copy of the registry data and exposes it via API.

What you legally cannot do

Corporations Canada’s terms of use permit searching for compliance, due diligence, and business purposes. The registry explicitly prohibits:

• Systematically harvesting or bulk-downloading the corporate database
• Using data to build a competing commercial directory without authorization
• Misrepresenting the source or currency of registry data

Provincial registries have similar restrictions in their respective terms. Ontario’s terms prohibit automated querying for commercial redistribution. Document extracts are for the personal and professional use of the purchaser and may not be reproduced for mass distribution.

Canada’s Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) and provincial privacy laws (notably Quebec’s Law 25) restrict how personal information appearing in registry records may be processed and retained by third parties. Names and addresses of directors found in registry filings are public data, though processing them still requires a documented purpose under those laws.

Canada is a member of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and is not on the FATF grey list as of May 2026. AML/KYC compliance frameworks in Canada are governed by the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act (PCMLTFA), administered by FINTRAC.

Practical tips for foreign users

• Check both federal and provincial. A company may appear only in the federal registry (CBCA incorporation) or only in a provincial registry. The registered name in one registry may differ slightly from the operating trade name. Start with Corporations Canada, then check the province of operation.
• Business Number (BN) is the stable identifier. Canada Revenue Agency assigns a 9-digit Business Number to every registered entity. This BN is more stable than the corporate name and is the identifier used across tax filings, import/export accounts, and payroll. The BN appears on the Corporations Canada corporate profile.
• Status labels matter. Corporations Canada uses: Active, Inactive-Amalgamated, Inactive-Discontinued, and Dissolved. “Inactive-Amalgamated” means the entity merged into another company and is now part of the successor entity. Always check the successor when you see this status.
• Annual return currency is a proxy for activity. Canadian federal corporations must file an annual return. The date of the most recent return is shown in the corporate profile. A company with a return more than two years old and no dissolution filing may be operating but not compliant.
• Quebec requires French-language due diligence. Documents from Quebec’s REQ are in French. If your counterparty is Quebec-incorporated, budget for translation or use a commercial data provider with English-language output.
• FATF membership. Canada is a founding member of FATF. OECD Global Forum on Transparency has rated Canada as largely compliant with international transparency standards. Check fatf-gafi.org and oecd.org/tax/transparency for current country assessments.

Alternatives if you cannot access the registry directly

The multi-registry structure makes Canadian company verification more complex than single-registry jurisdictions. A counterparty incorporated in Alberta, conducting business federally, and with Quebec operations could appear in three separate registries.

• Commercial data providers (see section below): Equifax Canada, Creditsafe, and D&B all maintain consolidated Canadian business data that spans federal and provincial registries, with credit risk scoring added.
• Canada Revenue Agency business number lookup: For a quick existence check and GST/HST registration status, the CRA Business Registry is a supplementary resource, outside this guide’s scope.

Local data suppliers

If you need a packaged report rather than a raw Corporations Canada extract, Canada has several established providers:

• Equifax Canada (equifax.ca). One of Canada’s two major consumer and commercial credit bureaus. Offers Business Credit Reports, credit scores, and fraud risk tools for Canadian entities. Covers both federally and provincially incorporated companies. Widely used by banks, telecoms, and trade creditors for counterparty risk assessment.
• Creditsafe Canada (creditsafe.com/ca). Entered the Canadian market in partnership with Equifax Canada. Provides business credit reports, company verification, payment behavior data, and API integration. Covers over 365 million business records globally, with Canada included. Suited for compliance teams needing automated decision workflows.
• Dun and Bradstreet Canada (dnb.com/en-ca). D&B assigns a D-U-N-S Number to Canadian businesses and provides credit risk scores, corporate linkage (parent/subsidiary mapping), and trade reference data. Used by procurement and supply chain teams for third-party risk management.

Use Corporations Canada for the official registration status and director record. Use a commercial credit bureau when you need payment behavior, credit risk scores, or consolidated data spanning multiple provincial registries in a single query.

FAQ

Can a foreign company search the Corporations Canada registry without a Canadian account?

Yes. The Corporations Canada search portal at ised-isde.canada.ca is open to international users with no account required, and its search form is titled Search for a Federal Corporation. Ordering paid certificates requires creating an account with an email address and credit card, but no Canadian identity document. Certified document fees in CAD are not published there.

What is the difference between a federal corporation and a provincial corporation in Canada?

A federal corporation is incorporated under the Canada Business Corporations Act and may operate under the same name across all provinces. A provincial corporation is incorporated under the law of a specific province (for example, Ontario’s Business Corporations Act) and must register as an extra-provincial corporation to operate formally in other provinces. For compliance purposes, a company may appear only in the federal Corporations Canada database, only in a provincial registry, or in both, depending on its incorporation choice.

How do I find the directors of a Canadian company?

Director information is included in the corporate profile from Corporations Canada for federally incorporated companies. For provincial companies, director information sits in profile reports from the relevant provincial registry. Ontario, BC and Quebec director-report fees are outside this guide’s scope. Quebec’s REQ also discloses directors, though the filing is in French.

Does Canada have a beneficial ownership (UBO) register?

Yes, with limitations. Canada’s Bill C-42 amended the Canada Business Corporations Act to require federally incorporated private companies to file beneficial ownership information with Corporations Canada. The statutory term for qualifying individuals is “individuals with significant control” (ISC), a defined legal category under the CBCA. The ISC registry became publicly searchable in January 2024. The threshold for disclosure is ownership or control of 25% or more of shares or votes. Provincial equivalents vary: British Columbia and Quebec have their own beneficial ownership disclosure requirements, while other provinces are at different stages of implementation.

How current is the data in Corporations Canada?

Corporations Canada is updated when companies file annual returns, change registrations, or submit other statutory filings. Annual returns for CBCA companies are due within 60 days of the anniversary of incorporation. There is no real-time feed; data may lag by weeks if a company has recently changed directors or address but not yet filed the update. For time-sensitive due diligence, request a Certificate of Compliance, which reflects the state of the registry at the date of issue.

Is the Corporations Canada search form the federal lookup?

Yes. The federal search form is titled Search for a Federal Corporation, and the hub is ised-isde.canada.ca/site/corporations-canada/en. Ontario’s Business Registry is outside this guide’s scope. Both federal and provincial basic searches have been reported as needing no account, but only the federal one is confirmed here; confirm at source.

What is FINTRAC and why does it matter for Canadian counterparty checks?

FINTRAC is Canada’s Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre, the national financial intelligence unit and AML regulator. Entities subject to the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act (PCMLTFA) must verify the identity of clients and beneficial owners, keep records, and report suspicious transactions to FINTRAC. For compliance buyers checking Canadian counterparties, documenting the purpose of the registry search and the UBO identification process is a PCMLTFA requirement if your own business is a reporting entity under that Act.

Last verified: September 2026. Sources: Corporations Canada, ISED (ised-isde.canada.ca/site/corporations-canada/en; search form titled Search for a Federal Corporation), Ontario Business Registry (ontario.ca/page/ontario-business-registry, outside this guide’s scope), FATF (fatf-gafi.org), OECD Global Forum on Transparency (oecd.org/tax/transparency).