Canada Business Registry Search Guide (2025 Update)
Canadian business information is fragmented across federal, provincial, and territorial registers.
Access levels differ widely: some allow free public searches, while others hide even basic information behind registry agents or paywalls.
Want to have them all in one place? Kyckr provides instant access to structured data from all 14 Canadian company registers, including shareholder and director data (where filed). Book a demo to find out more.
This guide explains how to access Canadian company registry data across federal, provincial, and territorial registers, with a focus on due diligence and beneficial ownership that financial crime professionals need to be aware of.
How to Find Information on Canadian Companies
There are three ways to access official sources of company information in Canada:
Provincial Registers: Varying access levels and searchability.
Official Nationwide Aggregators: Fully manual, with data lags.
Third-Party KYB Data Providers: API-first, real-time access to official company information in Canada.
Provincial Registers
Like the US, Canadian businesses register at the provincial level, which means registry access is fragmented across multiple points of contact.
Public Access: Registers such as Ontario, Nova Scotia, and Quebec offer free public searches.
Pay-per-Search: New Brunswick and British Columbia, for example, charge users for each search conducted on a registry.
Closed System: Alberta requires company searches to be made via designated registry agents.
Official Nationwide Aggregators
Financial crime professionals can also use the online portal Canada’s Business Registries, a collaborative nationwide initiative that links provincial registries on one platform.
Basic Search: Conduct free, basic searches on businesses registered in 8 different registries. You must request filings or advanced information from the registry itself.
Limited Reach: Only covers 8 out of Canada’s 13 provinces and territories, unlike Kyckr.
Manual Process: Automated tools are banned, making due diligence time-consuming.
Time Lag: Data updates differ between days and months.
Bulk Data: Datasets can be accessed on the Open Database of Businesses, another government initiative. But this data was collected in December 2022.
Third-Party KYB Data Providers
Third-party aggregators, such as Kyckr, provide instant, automated access via APIs to Canada’s provincial registries.
Nationwide Reach: Kyckr covers 100% of Canadian provinces.
Automated Process: Kyckr utilises automated tools to normalise and structure disparate live data from various Canadian registries.
Real-Time: Information is retrieved at the point of request.
Book a demo to verify Canadian companies instantly.
Provincial Business Registers
Each registry in Canada offers different levels of transparency, searchability, and accessibility.
Ontario Business Registry (OBR)
In terms of searchability, the OBR leads the way in Canada. It’s a modern, usable register that allows for free, basic searches. Anyone can search the OBR for basic information.
Available Information:
Corporation Name.
Ontario Corporation Number (OCN).
Incorporation Date.
Type.
Status.
Governing Jurisdiction.
Registered or Head Office Address.
Available Company Filings: For a fee, users can request via email Articles of Incorporation, a Notice of Change, Certificates of Status, Initial Returns, and a Profile Report on directors, officers, partners, and addresses.
Available Shareholder Information: Shareholder information is held by private companies, similar to Hong Kong’s register, and is only available to law enforcement, as well as regulatory and tax authorities.
Corporate Registry of New Brunswick
New Brunswick’s corporate registry offers a legacy portal on which you can search for entities by keyword, reference number, or business number.
Available Basic Information:
Reference Number.
Status.
Flag.
Name.
Advanced Search: Users must pay $3 to see more detailed information, or can pay $50 per month for unlimited searches.
Available Company Filings: Users can buy a certified copy of the notice of condominium directors for $20.00, or a Certificate of Status for $20.
Available Shareholder Information: Not collected or listed.
British Columbia Corporate Registry
British Columbia’s online registry, BC Online, offers a legacy pay-per-search portal.
Pay-Per-Search: Each search costs $7. To access even basic information, users must create an account.
Available Company Filings: For a fee, users can request a Business Summary (director information), Certificate of Good Standing, Certificate of Status, or Letter Under Seal.
Available Shareholder Information: No shareholder company filings.
Nova Scotia’s Registry of Stock Companies
Users can search the Registry of Stock Companies for information on all business types.
Available Basic Information:
Registration Name.
Registration Number.
Addresses.
Type.
Status.
Registration Date.
Annual Return Filing Date.
It also shows the entity’s history. For example, different events, such as ‘Annual Renewal’ and ‘Revoked for Non Payment’.
Available Company Filings: Documents can be purchased for a fee. Annual Statements, Articles of Association, Change in Directors, and Special Resolution.
Available Shareholder Information: Not collected or listed.
Quebec’s Enterprise Register
Users can use the Enterprises Register to search for entities and natural persons associated with businesses.
Available Basic Information:
Registration Name.
Address.
Company Number (NEQ).
Status.
Name History.
Advanced Search: By clicking on an entity, users can see its Economic Activity Code (CAE), number of employees, the three biggest shareholders, liquidity status, and UBO.
Available Company Filings: Annual Statement, Registration Declaration, and Certificate of Incorporation.
Available Shareholder Information: The entity’s three biggest shareholders are available for free.
Service Alberta
Users can conduct a basic search on Service Alberta to find out whether a business is licensed to trade.
Available Basic Information:
Business’s name.
Address.
Registration/license date.
Expiry date.
But for in-depth searches, users must pay an official registry agent to access critical company information, for example, director details.
Available Company Filings: Historical Certificate of Incorporation and Certificate of Status.
Available Shareholder Information: Must be retrieved by designated agents.
Alternatives: Check the Alberta Gazette, which publishes fortnightly periodicals that contain information on appointments, resignations, and proclamations. The Registrar’s Periodical, also fortnightly, publishes information on incorporations and name changes.
Manitoba’s Companies Office
Manitoba has Companies Office. You must create an account to search. Then by entity name or number.
Available Basic Information:
Name.
Registry Number.
Status.
Entity Type.
Available Company Filings: For $40, you can order a Certificate of Status, which also shows the entity’s incorporation date.
Available Shareholder Information: Available in Company Profiles.
Saskatchewan Registry Services
To access the ISC, users must create an account and search by name or entity number.
Upon search completion, users will see:
Profile Reports: entity type, status, date of registration or incorporation, nature of business, registered office/mailing address, the owners/directors, and event history.
Document Orders: Supporting documents filed with the registry, including certificates of incorporation. These are mostly available immediately.
Certificates: The Corporate Registry issues certificates to confirm changes to a business name, articles or status. These are official documents, such as certificates of status or amalgamation.
Available Shareholder Information: Information on directors and owners can be retrieved in a Profile report.
Remember: There is also a bulk information service available for a tailored fee.
Corporations Canada (Federal)
Corporations Canada, the federal register, offers free public access to extensive company information.
Available Information:
Name.
Status.
Corporation Number.
Business Number.
Registration Address.
Director (and address).
Individuals with Significant Control (and their address).
Available Company Filings: a Corporate Profile, certificates of incorporation, changes regarding directors or addresses, and amendments to articles.
Yukon Corporate Online Registry
Yukon’s business registry is managed online through the Yukon Corporate Online Registry (YCOR). Users can conduct free, basic searches to confirm the existence of a corporation and what goods or services it provides.
Paid Searches: For more detailed filings, such as certificates of status or incorporation documents, users must create an account and use a Private Filing Key (PFK).
Available Company Filings: For a fee, users can request filings such as certificates of status, incorporation documents, or corporate profiles.
Available Shareholder Information: Not collected or mandated.
Northwest Territories’ Corporate Registries Online System
The Northwest Territories operates its Corporate Registries Online System through the Department of Justice.
Basic information is free, but to view a full entity profile, users must register an account with a valid Visa or Mastercard to purchase entity profiles.
Available Information:
Legal name.
Status.
Type of entity.
Available Company Filings: Company documents available, but we were unable to view them without a card payment.
Available Shareholder Information: Not collected or listed.
Nunavut
Nunavut does not maintain a public online corporate registry. Instead, company information, such as incorporation documents, current directors, and registered office addresses, can be obtained by contacting the Legal Registries Division directly.
Available Shareholder Information: Not collected or listed.
Alternatives: The Inuit Firm Registry (IFR) provides a searchable database of Inuit-owned firms, searchable by business name or IFR number.
Accessing Beneficial Ownership Information in Canada
Canada doesn’t have a unified beneficial ownership register, unlike the USA. UBO registers are province-based.
Quebec
Since March 31, 2023, entities registered with the Quebec Enterprise Registrar must disclose ultimate beneficiaries publicly.
This information can be found on the Quebec Enterprise Registrar:
Names, domiciles, and dates of birth of ultimate beneficiaries.
Percentage of ownership or control exercised.
Business addresses.
Federal
Since January 2024, federally incorporated private companies have been required to make beneficial ownership information publicly available, otherwise known as "Individuals with Significant Control" (ISC).
Name, birth date, and latest known address of beneficial owners.
Jurisdiction of tax residency.
Dates of acquiring/ceasing significant control.
Description of control mechanisms.
British Columbia
Since October 2020, private companies in British Columbia have had to maintain private transparency registers accessible only to regulators, law enforcement, and directors.
By the autumn of 2025, these registers will be made public and available online, including the following information:
Full name, date of birth, and last known address.
Citizenship status / Canadian permanent residency.
Tax residency.
Date on which the individual became or ceased to be a significant individual.
Description of how the individual is a ‘significant individual’.
Social insurance and tax number.
Private Registers (Accessible only to law enforcement)
Ontario.
Nova Scotia.
New Brunswick.
Saskatchewan.
Manitoba.
Yukon.
No UBO Registers
Alberta, the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut have not yet adopted transparency register legislation.
Alberta: No beneficial ownership register, but corporations are required to list their top five shareholders, including their names, addresses, and percentage of voting shares in the annual return. These can be accessed via an authorised registry agent.
Access Canadian Company Information in Real Time
Accessing Canadian company registry data can feel like a maze. Different rules in each province. Inconsistent filing access. And no single nationwide register.
With the introduction of new AML reforms in 2025, the stakes are even higher: financial crime professionals now need to reconcile beneficial ownership data across multiple sources and report discrepancies in real time.
For compliance teams, manually navigating fragmented registries isn’t sustainable. That’s why regulated professionals increasingly turn to Kyckr. By integrating directly with Canada’s provincial and federal registries, Kyckr delivers live, structured, and reliable company data instantly, removing the friction of manual searches and helping firms stay compliant in a rapidly evolving regulatory landscape.
Book a demo to find out more.