Client verification Current

Verifying a client company's registration details in Canada

The federal register is the right first check, but it doesn't cover every company.

Before relying on anything a company client tells you about itself, checking its registration against the public record is a useful first step. This guide sets out how, and where the federal register stops covering a company. It is general information, not legal or compliance advice.

Action plan

1 Search the federal register using the corporation's own details Search by corporation number, legal name, or Business Number to pull up the official record.

Corporations Canada's federal corporation search lets you confirm a corporation's existence and key details, including its corporation number, business number, province of registered office, corporation status such as active, inactive, or dissolved, and governing legislation. Search using the details the client provided and compare the result against what they told you, rather than accepting their description on its own.

  • Search by the corporation number, legal name, or Business Number the client provided
  • Confirm the corporation status is active, not inactive or dissolved
  • Note any mismatch between the client's own description and the register result

Done when: The company's registration details have been checked against the federal register and any mismatch noted

Corporations Canada: search for a federal corporation
2 Know what the federal register does not cover A company not appearing on the federal register isn't automatically unregistered.

Corporations Canada's own guidance states that its database does not include corporations created under financial legislation, such as financial institutions, insurance companies, or loan and trust companies, or corporations created under provincial or territorial law. If a client company doesn't appear, check whether it was incorporated provincially or territorially before treating the absence as a red flag.

  • Don't treat a company missing from the federal register as automatically unregistered
  • Check whether the company may be provincially or territorially incorporated instead
  • Check whether the company is a financial institution type excluded from the federal database

Done when: A company not found on the federal register has been checked against the relevant provincial or territorial registry

Canada's Business Registries
3 Keep the search itself as evidence The search result is worth keeping alongside your other verification evidence.

Keep a record of the registry search, including the date it was run and what it showed, alongside the rest of your client due diligence evidence for the company. This lets a later reviewer see what was actually checked, rather than relying on a summary written after the fact.

  • Keep a record of the date the registry search was run and what it showed
  • Keep this alongside your other due diligence evidence for the company
  • Re-run the search if you're relying on registration details from some time earlier

Done when: A dated record of the registry search is kept with the company's other due diligence evidence

See requesting beneficial ownership from a corporate client