How to Search the New Brunswick Corporate Registry
Search by company name, corporation number, or Business Number to pull its registry record.
Need the full picture on a New Brunswick company? Order a corporate profile report — $69 + GST, ~3-hour delivery → · Directors, registered office, status and filing history, pulled directly from the registry.
New Brunswick corporate searches run through the Corporate Affairs Registry Database, Service New Brunswick's online index of every corporation, non-profit company, partnership and registered business name in the province. Searching by a company's 15-digit New Brunswick business number is free; a name (keyword) search result costs $3.00 per transaction by credit card, and heavy users can subscribe for $50 a month. This guide covers where to search, what the results actually tell you, what the A/B/F status codes mean, and how to turn a search hit into a document a bank or lawyer will accept.
Where Do You Search the New Brunswick Corporate Registry?
Everything starts at Service New Brunswick's Corporate Registry search page, which links into the Corporate Affairs Registry Database — the searchable index maintained by the Corporate Registry branch. It covers New Brunswick-incorporated business corporations and non-profit companies, extra-provincial corporations registered to operate in the province, and partnership and business-name registrations.
The database offers three ways in:
- Keyword search — single or combined keywords against registered names. This is the search most people want: type part of the company name, get a list of matches.
- Reference number search — the file number the Corporate Registry branch assigned when the entity was incorporated or registered.
- Business number search — the 15-digit account number assigned to the business by the Province of New Brunswick in conjunction with the Canada Revenue Agency (e.g.
123456789NP0001).
One thing worth knowing before you rely on a printout: SNB is explicit that the database is not the official legal record. The official record is the set of documents on file at the Registry itself — which is why certified copies exist (more on those below).
Is a New Brunswick Corporate Registry Search Free?
Partly. Here is what SNB charges:
| Search option | Cost |
|---|---|
| Search by New Brunswick business number (15-digit) | Free |
| Per-transaction internet search, paid by credit card | $3.00 |
| Unlimited internet searching (subscriber account) | $50.00/month |
So if you already have the company's business number, you can pull its record without paying. If all you have is a name, the keyword search result is a $3 transaction — cheap, but the result is a registry database record, not a formatted report, and reading it correctly takes some familiarity with the registry's status codes and category numbers.
If you'd rather skip the portal entirely, CRS runs a corporate name search for $49 + GST — we search the registry, confirm exactly which entity you're looking at, and send you the results in plain English. For a quick free first pass on corporations in several Canadian jurisdictions, try our Canada corporations search tool.
What Do the Status Codes in Search Results Mean?
A New Brunswick search result leads with a one-letter status code, defined in the registry's official glossary. For business corporations, the ones you'll actually see:
| Status | What it means |
|---|---|
| A | The corporation legally exists and is in compliance with its annual return obligations — what a bank or counterparty wants to see |
| B | The corporation legally exists but is not current on its annual returns |
| F | The corporation no longer exists — dissolved, or its charter forfeited |
| I | Dissolution proceedings have been started by the Director, or an intent to dissolve has been filed |
| J | The corporation amalgamated into another entity |
| K | The corporation continued out of New Brunswick into another jurisdiction |
Status B is the one that trips companies up. It usually just means a missed annual return — New Brunswick corporations must file within the 30 days following their incorporation anniversary, at $60 e-filed — but two years of unfiled returns puts a corporation on the road to involuntary dissolution. If that's your own corporation showing B, our guide to filing your annual return in New Brunswick walks through the fix, or CRS can file it for you — $159 all-in + tax, filed within 1 business day.
What Documents Can You Get From the Registry?
A search tells you what's on file; a registry document proves it to someone else. From the Corporate Registry, the key items and their government fees:
- Certificate of Status — $20. The registry's formal confirmation of a corporation's existence and standing. This is what New Brunswick calls the document most other provinces call a certificate of good standing — our guide to certificates of good standing in Canada covers how the names map across jurisdictions.
- Certified copies of documents on file — $20 (regular, uncertified copies are $10). Because the database isn't the official record, certified copies of the actual filed documents are what courts and lawyers ask for.
CRS retrieves both without you touching the portal: a Certificate of Good Standing is $109 all-in + tax, and a full corporate profile report — legal status, directors, registered office and filing history in one document — is $69 + GST, typically delivered in about 3 hours.
Can You Search New Brunswick Companies Through the Federal Registry?
Mostly no — and this catches a lot of people. Canada's Business Registries, the federal multi-jurisdiction search, aggregates only some provincial registries, and New Brunswick's records live in SNB's own database rather than the federal aggregator. Searching a NB company name on the federal site and finding nothing does not mean the company doesn't exist — it usually just means you're searching the wrong registry.
The reverse trap exists too: a federally incorporated (CBCA) company operating in New Brunswick appears in Corporations Canada's database and as an extra-provincial registrant in the NB registry. If you're doing real due diligence — before signing a lease, extending credit, or buying a business — our guide on how to verify a Canadian company explains which registry answers which question. And if you're checking name availability because you're about to incorporate here, start with the New Brunswick incorporation guide instead — search and NUANS are built into that process.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the New Brunswick corporate registry search free?
Searching by a company's 15-digit New Brunswick business number is free. A name (keyword) search result is $3.00 per transaction by credit card, and unlimited searching is available by subscription at $50 per month. CRS offers a researched name search for $49 + GST if you'd rather have the registry record found, confirmed and explained for you.
Does New Brunswick have a registry of joint stock companies?
No — that's Nova Scotia. Nova Scotia's corporate registry is the Registry of Joint Stock Companies (RJSC); New Brunswick's is simply the Corporate Registry, run by Service New Brunswick through the Corporate Affairs Registry Database. If the company you're looking for is registered in Nova Scotia, you'll need to search there instead.
How do I find out if a New Brunswick company is still active?
Run a search in the Corporate Affairs Registry Database and read the status code: A means the corporation exists and is current on its annual returns, B means it exists but has fallen behind, and F means it has been dissolved or its charter forfeited. For formal proof of standing, order a Certificate of Status ($20 from the registry, or $109 all-in through CRS including the government fee).
How much does a New Brunswick certificate of status cost?
The government fee is $20. CRS retrieves it for $109 all-in + tax, delivered as a PDF in about 3 hours, with no registry account or portal navigation needed on your end. Banks and lawyers accept it as the New Brunswick equivalent of a certificate of good standing.
Looking beyond New Brunswick? How to search Canadian business registries covers finding a company by name or number across every province and the federal registry.
Search Done — Now Get the Document
A $3 search tells you a company exists. When the bank, the buyer or the lawyer wants proof, CRS pulls the profile report or Certificate of Status directly from the New Brunswick Corporate Registry and delivers it the same day.
Turnaround: ~3 hours, delivered as PDF Price: Profile report $69 + GST · Certificate of Good Standing $109 all-in + tax
Frequently asked questions
Is the New Brunswick corporate registry search free?
Searching by a company's 15-digit New Brunswick business number is free. A name (keyword) search result is $3.00 per transaction by credit card, and unlimited searching is available by subscription at $50 per month. CRS offers a researched name search for $49 + GST if you'd rather have the registry record found, confirmed and explained for you.
Does New Brunswick have a registry of joint stock companies?
No — that's Nova Scotia. Nova Scotia's corporate registry is the Registry of Joint Stock Companies (RJSC); New Brunswick's is simply the Corporate Registry, run by Service New Brunswick through the Corporate Affairs Registry Database. If the company you're looking for is registered in Nova Scotia, you'll need to search there instead.
How do I find out if a New Brunswick company is still active?
Run a search in the Corporate Affairs Registry Database and read the status code: A means the corporation exists and is current on its annual returns, B means it exists but has fallen behind, and F means it has been dissolved or its charter forfeited. For formal proof of standing, order a Certificate of Status ($20 from the registry, or $109 all-in through CRS including the government fee).
How much does a New Brunswick certificate of status cost?
The government fee is $20. CRS retrieves it for $109 all-in + tax, delivered as a PDF in about 3 hours, with no registry account or portal navigation needed on your end. Banks and lawyers accept it as the New Brunswick equivalent of a certificate of good standing.
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