What our Canada company report includes
Our Canada reports draw on sources including the relevant federal (Corporations Canada) or provincial (e.g. Ontario MGCS, Alberta CORES, BC Registries, Quebec REQ) registry, the Canada Revenue Agency, OSC and provincial securities regulators for listed entities, OSFI for federally regulated financial institutions, and provincial court records; fees may apply for certain records. The information returned from any one source reflects what the company has filed and what is publicly accessible when the search is run. Bilingual filings (English and French) are presented in clear English.
Identity & registration
- ✓ Federal corporation number or provincial corporation number
- ✓ Business Number (BN — CRA) and HST/GST registration
- ✓ Legal form (corporation, ULC, LLP, sole proprietorship, branch)
- ✓ Date of incorporation and registered office
- ✓ Federal or provincial jurisdiction of incorporation
People & ownership
- ✓ Directors and officers
- ✓ Beneficial ownership / ISC (Individuals with Significant Control) register
- ✓ Shareholders (private corporations) or major holders (public)
- ✓ Authorised and issued share capital
- ✓ Parent corporation and corporate group
Financial & trading
- ✓ Filed financial statements (public corporations via SEDAR+; private as available)
- ✓ Operating sector (NAICS classification)
- ✓ Sectoral licences (OSFI, provincial regulators, ISED for telecom) (case-specific)
- ✓ Risk indicator and calculated credit limit
Risk & public records
- ✓ Provincial civil court judgements
- ✓ BIA proceedings (Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act) and CCAA filings
- ✓ CRA tax compliance status (case-specific)
Note on Canadian data: Canada operates two parallel incorporation regimes: federal under Corporations Canada and provincial under each province's registrar. Quebec uses the civil-law system, with filings often in French. Our reports can identify the jurisdiction of incorporation and translate French-language filings where applicable.
Why verify a Canadian company?
Canada is a mature, transparent corporate environment with disclosure standards comparable to the US and Western Europe. For overseas counterparties, the practical question is rarely whether the company exists and is genuine (both can usually be confirmed from public sources) but rather working through the federal/provincial split, the language and jurisdictional differences between common-law provinces and Quebec, and the relatively recent beneficial-ownership transparency requirements.
Jurisdiction of incorporation matters because it determines the registry, the applicable corporate statute (CBCA federally, or the relevant provincial Business Corporations Act), and the precise content of public filings. A Canadian counterparty may be federally incorporated and operating across all provinces, or provincially incorporated with extra-provincial registrations elsewhere. The first task of any Canada verification is identifying the correct jurisdiction; our reports do this and search the relevant filings.
Beneficial ownership disclosure has tightened substantially in recent years. Federal corporations under the CBCA must maintain an ISC (Individuals with Significant Control) register, and most provinces have implemented similar regimes. Public access varies (Quebec is the most open; several others restrict access to law enforcement and reporting entities), and our reports use whatever access is available combined with direct enquiry where required.
Records such as court judgements (provincial civil courts), BIA bankruptcy and CCAA proceedings, and CRA tax compliance and securities-regulator filings for listed entities are accessible to varying degrees; although some information may be public access, some may require fees or specific access permissions.