The BC Company Password: How to Find It, Reset It — or File Without It

Annual report due and no password? File your BC Annual Report in 1 business day → · $99 + GST including the BC Registries fee. Lost the password? We recover it with you.

Your BC company password is an 8–15 character code attached to your company on Corporate Online, and if it's lost there are exactly three ways back: recover it through the company email on file, have the registry mail a replacement to your registered office, or skip it entirely by authorizing an agent to file for you. This guide covers all three — and the deadline pressure behind them, because B.C. is moving companies to the new Business Registry, where access codes disappear entirely and a company with a lost password and a stale registered office record can find itself locked out of its own registry file.

What is the BC company password — and is it the same as the access code?

They're two different things that work together, and mixing them up is where most recovery attempts stall.

The access code is printed on every Annual Report Reminder the registry sends — Box C on the paper notice, or in the body of the reminder email. It proves you received mail addressed to the company, and an access code from any year's reminder works. The company password is the credential you actually file with on Corporate Online: 8 to 15 characters, letters and numbers only, case-sensitive.

Most companies had a password set at incorporation or by whoever has been filing the annual reports since — often a lawyer or agent, which is exactly how it goes missing when that relationship ends. Companies created before March 29, 2004 can create one themselves on Corporate Online using an access code. Extraprovincial registrants don't use one at all.

Where do I find the access code or password?

Before starting any reset, check the places it already exists. Dig out any Annual Report Reminder — this year's or any previous year's — and look for Box C on paper or the code in the reminder email. Ask whoever filed last: the lawyer, accountant or registry agent who handled past annual reports usually has the password on file and will hand it over to the company. And if a password was set with a hint, Corporate Online can show the hint at login.

There's no lockout to fear: the government's own affiliation guide confirms there is no limit on password attempts. If nothing you try works, move to recovery.

How do I reset a lost BC company password?

While Corporate Online remains live, there are three recovery routes, fastest first:

1. Company email on file. If an email address was registered for the company, the registry emails the password to it. This is immediate — check the inbox (and spam) of whoever set the company up.
2. Access code, no password. With an access code from any reminder notice, you can create a fresh password yourself on Corporate Online under "Create Company Password or Email Address."
3. Neither. Ask the Corporate Registry to generate a password and mail it to the company's registered office address. The catch: if that address is out of date, you must first file a paper Notice of Change of Address with a covering letter explaining the situation — then request the mailed password. Two rounds of physical mail, ahead of a filing deadline.

That third route is where deadlines die. A BC Annual Report is due within 2 months of your incorporation anniversary ($43.39 government fee), and a mailed password behind an address correction can eat most of that window. If that's where you are, an agent filing is usually faster than the recovery — CRS starts the filing today and handles the credential with you in parallel, and if the registered office itself needs correcting, that's a $99 change-of-address filing we can run first.

What changes under the new BC Business Registry?

B.C. is retiring Corporate Online in favour of the Business Registry, and the move changes what the password is even for. Companies are moving in phases — more than 46,000 were in the new system by mid-2026 — and each company receives a one-time emailed link that connects it to the recipient's account automatically. Until yours is invited, the province's guidance is plain: keep using Corporate Online; there is nothing you need to do right now.

In the new system there is no company password to type at every filing. You log in with the BC Services Card app or a BCeID, and the province is explicit that access codes are not used in the Business Registry — once a business is linked to your account, you can access it at any time.

The password still matters at one moment: linking the company to an account in the first place. The registry offers exactly three ways to do it — enter the company password; have the registry send a confirmation email to the registered office email address on file; or send an authorization request to an account that already manages the business.

Read those three options against a company that has lost its password: option one is gone, option two fails if the email on file is stale or was never set, and option three doesn't exist if no account manages the company yet. That company is locked out of its own registry file until it corrects the registered office record — which is why the single most useful thing a BC company can do before its migration invitation arrives is confirm the email address on its Corporate Online record is current. The invitation itself goes to that address.

How do I authorize an agent like CRS to file instead?

One thing to know first: B.C. has no U.S.-style "registered agent" role — under the Business Corporations Act a company maintains a registered office and records office, and any filing agent needs the same authorization a director would use. What an agent brings is knowing the routes and running them daily.

There are three ways to put CRS in a position to file for your company, and they map exactly onto the registry's own options. If you have the password, you give it to us with your order — that is how BC Annual Reports are filed today, and all we need. If you don't, we run the recovery above with you. And as companies move into the new Business Registry, authorization becomes a single click: CRS requests access, the registry emails your registered office address, and you approve it — or, if your own account already manages the company, you grant our request from your Manage Business screen. Once the company is linked, no code is needed for any future filing.

From there, everything the registry gates behind access gets handled: annual reports at $99 + GST all-in, registered office changes at $99 + GST, director changes at $99 + GST — each filed in 1 business day. Not sure what state your company is even in? Check it in the registry first; the search is free.

Frequently asked questions

Is the BC company password the same as the access code?

No. The access code is printed on every Annual Report Reminder (Box C on the paper version, or in the reminder email) and proves you received the company's registry mail. The company password is the 8–15 character credential used to actually file on Corporate Online. You can use an access code from any year's reminder to create or recover a password.

What if I never received an annual report reminder?

Reminders go to the registered office address and email on file with BC Registries. If they are not arriving, the record is stale — and that same stale record blocks password recovery by mail and the new Business Registry's email authorization. Updating the registered office address is the first fix, not the last.

Can I still use Corporate Online?

Yes. B.C. is moving companies to the new Business Registry in phases, and the province's own guidance is that if your company has not been notified, there is nothing you need to do right now. Corporate Online keeps working for your company until you receive the invitation email.

Do I need a BCeID or BC Services Card to file my annual report?

Not if an agent files it. A BCeID and BC Registry account are only needed to file yourself in the new system. CRS files your BC Annual Report for $99 + GST including the BC Registries fee — no login, no account setup on your side.

What does CRS need to file for my company?

The company password, if you have it. If you don't, we run the recovery with you — finding an access code, using the company email on file, or the mailed-password route — and under the new Business Registry you can authorize us by approving a single email instead. Either way the order starts today; the credential catches up.

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Password or no password, your deadline doesn't move. File your BC Annual Report → — $99 + GST all-in, including the $43.39 BC Registries fee. We file with your company password, or recover it with you.

Turnaround: 1 business day from receiving the filing details. Price: $99 + GST — all-in, BC Registries fee included.