How to Search Canadian Business Registries: Find Any Company in Canada

Looking for a specific company? Search Canadian business registries free → — by name, corporation number, or Business Number, across provinces at once.

The first thing to know about searching for a Canadian business is the thing nobody tells you: there is no single national business registry. Canada has fourteen of them — one for each province and territory, plus Corporations Canada for federal corporations — and they do not share a search box. A company registered in Alberta will not appear in British Columbia's registry, and neither will show a federally incorporated company unless it also registered to operate there.

So "search the Canadian business registry" is really a question of which registry, and that depends on where the company was incorporated. This guide explains how the system is laid out, how to search by name, number, or Business Number, and what to do when a company you know exists doesn't show up.

Why does Canada have so many business registries?

Because incorporation is split between two levels of government. A business can incorporate federally under the Canada Business Corporations Act, or provincially under the corporate statute of any one province or territory. Whoever you incorporate with holds your record.

• Federal corporations live in the Corporations Canada database, run by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED).
• Provincial corporations live in that province's own registry — Alberta's Corporate Registry (through CORES), BC Registries, Ontario's Business Registry, and so on for all thirteen provinces and territories.

There is one more wrinkle that trips people up: a federal corporation still has to register extra-provincially in each province where it actually carries on business. So a company incorporated federally can appear in Corporations Canada and in the registries of two or three provinces, under the same name. Searching one registry tells you what that registry knows — not the whole picture.

This is exactly why a cross-registry search tool is useful: instead of guessing which of fourteen registries holds the record, you search several at once and let the results tell you where the company lives.

How do you search by company name?

Name search is the most common way in, and the most error-prone, because the name you know is rarely the exact legal name on the registry.

• Use the full legal element. "Maple Holdings" won't match if the registered name is "Maple Holdings Inc." or "Maple Holdings Ltd." Include the Inc., Ltd., Corp., ULC, or LP.
• Watch for operating names. Many businesses trade under a name that isn't their legal corporate name — a restaurant called "The Corner Table" might be registered as "123456 Ontario Inc." A name search on the trading name will find nothing, because it isn't the legal name on the corporate record. It may be registered separately as a trade name or DBA.
• Spelling and punctuation matter. Registries match on the distinctive words. An ampersand, a hyphen, or "and" spelled out can each change the result.

If a name search comes back empty, that is usually not proof the company doesn't exist — it is a sign you have the operating name, a misspelling, or the wrong registry. The surest identifier is a number.

Can you search by corporation number or Business Number?

Yes, and when you have one it is faster and more reliable than a name.

• Corporation / registration number — the identifier the registry assigned at incorporation. It is unique within that registry and pulls the exact record with no ambiguity.
• Business Number (BN) — the nine-digit number the Canada Revenue Agency assigns for tax purposes, often shown as the first nine digits of a fifteen-character program account like 123456789 RC0001. It is not the same as the corporation number, and not every registry lets you search by it — but where it works, it is unambiguous.

If you are unsure which number you are holding, our guide to verifying a Canadian company explains the difference between a corporation number and a Business Number in detail.

What if the company doesn't appear in the search?

Work through these, roughly in order:

1. Wrong registry. The company is provincial and you searched federal, or vice versa. Search across registries rather than guessing.
2. Operating name, not legal name. Search the legal corporate name, or the number.
3. Spelling or legal element. Try variants — with and without "Inc.", "The", the ampersand.
4. Recently incorporated. New registrations can take hours or a few days to appear in the public search.
5. Dissolved or struck. A company that was struck from the register may not surface in an active-only search, though its historical record still exists and can be pulled.

A cross-registry tool removes the first and biggest source of error by searching several registries at once, so an empty result means something about the name, not about which registry you happened to pick.

What can you see once you find the company?

The free search confirms a corporation exists and shows its registry, status, and identifiers. To see inside the record — directors, registered office, filing history, the details a bank or a counterparty asks for — you order the corporation's profile report, pulled directly from the government registry at $69 all-in + GST.

That is the line between finding a company and verifying one. Finding it is free. The verification depth you need depends on why you are looking:

• Confirming a supplier or client is real and active — the free search plus a profile report is usually enough.
• Due diligence on a transaction — the full profile, and often the historical record.
• A legal or lending matter — the complete filing history and certified documents.

Searching a specific province

If you already know where the company was incorporated, you can go straight to that registry's own search. The registries differ in what they charge, what they show for free, and how they let you search:

• Alberta — searches run through authorised registry agents on the CORES system; see what CORES is.
• British Columbia — BC Registries, with a public search and the transparency-register rules layered on top.
• New Brunswick — see our New Brunswick corporate registry search guide.

Whichever province, the fastest route is still to start with a cross-registry search, confirm which registry holds the record, then drill in.

Related guides

• Search Canadian business registries — the free tool
• How to verify a Canadian company
• Corporate search for due diligence
• Corporate profile report in Canada
• What is CORES in Alberta?

Frequently asked questions

Is there one website to search all Canadian businesses?

No. Canada has no single national business registry — each province and territory keeps its own, and Corporations Canada keeps the federal one, fourteen in total. They do not share a search. A cross-registry tool like CRS's searches several at once so you don't have to know in advance which registry holds the record.

How do I search a business by name in Canada?

Use the exact legal name including the legal element — Inc., Ltd., Corp., ULC or LP — and search across registries rather than a single province. If the name returns nothing, you may have the operating or trade name rather than the legal corporate name, a spelling variant, or the wrong registry; searching by corporation number or Business Number avoids all three.

What is the difference between a corporation number and a Business Number?

The corporation (or registration) number is assigned by the registry at incorporation and is unique within that registry. The Business Number is a nine-digit identifier assigned by the Canada Revenue Agency for tax accounts. They are different numbers issued by different bodies; a registry search generally uses the corporation number, while the BN identifies the business to the CRA.

Why can't I find a company I know exists?

Most often you are searching the wrong registry (provincial vs federal), or searching an operating name instead of the legal corporate name, or a spelling variant. Recently incorporated companies can also take a few days to appear, and a struck or dissolved company may not surface in an active-only search even though its historical record survives.

Is searching a Canadian business registry free?

Finding a company and confirming its status is free. Seeing the details inside the record — directors, registered office, filing history — is a corporate profile report, pulled directly from the government registry at $69 all-in + GST.

Does a federal corporation appear in provincial registries too?

It can. A federally incorporated company must register extra-provincially in each province where it carries on business, so the same corporation can appear in Corporations Canada and in two or three provincial registries under the same name. Searching only one registry shows only part of the picture.

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Find the company first. Search Canadian business registries free → by name, corporation number, or Business Number. Then order a profile report — $69 all-in + GST — when you need what's inside the record.