Public records explained

Last reviewed October 18, 2026

Many business pages on fraud.ca show facts from public records: Corporations Canada’s federal corporation records, the Canada Revenue Agency’s (CRA) list of charities, FINTRAC’s registry of money services businesses and the Régie du bâtiment du Québec’s (RBQ) list of active licences. This page explains what those terms mean, what they don’t tell you, and where to check the official source. It’s general information, not legal advice.

A public record shows what an organization filed with a government body, or what that body recorded about it. It doesn’t tell you whether a business is open today, how it treats its customers, or whether it’s right for you. Reviews on fraud.ca are people’s own experiences; they aren’t part of any public record.

Registry status

Every federal corporation has a status in Corporations Canada’s records. Corporations Canada’s glossary describes it as the corporation’s current legal status, and notes that it doesn’t necessarily show whether the corporation is operating. Business pages show the status as it appears in Corporations Canada’s open data, with the date of the file it comes from.

Active

What it means. The corporation hasn’t been dissolved or otherwise legally terminated under the law that governs it (Corporations Canada, Search tips).

What it doesn’t mean. “Active” is a legal status. It doesn’t show that the business is open or trading, and it says nothing about how the business deals with its customers. A corporation can be active without operating, and many businesses operate without a federal corporation.

Where to check. The corporation’s record in Search for a Federal Corporation shows its current status and its filings.

Active - Dissolution Pending (non-compliance)

What it means. The corporation is still active. Corporations Canada’s glossary describes this status as a corporation in the process of being dissolved by the Director (the official appointed under its Act) for not meeting the Act’s requirements. Under the Canada Business Corporations Act, the Director can dissolve a corporation for reasons such as not sending required fees, notices or documents for a year, after giving 120 days’ notice (section 212). Corporations Canada’s policy on annual filings is to dissolve a corporation for annual returns not filed only after two years without a filing, and its final notice gives 120 more days to file the returns required.

What it doesn’t mean. The corporation hasn’t been dissolved, and the notice period gives it time to file what’s required. The status is about filings with Corporations Canada; it doesn’t describe the corporation’s business or how it treats its customers.

Where to check. The federal record in Search for a Federal Corporation shows the current status and the status of its annual filings. The online record can be more recent than the file shown on the business page.

Active - Intent to Dissolve Filed

What it means. The corporation has filed a statement that it intends to liquidate and dissolve (glossary). Under the Canada Business Corporations Act, once the Director issues a certificate of intent to dissolve, the corporation stops carrying on business except as needed to liquidate, and it still exists until a certificate of dissolution is issued. The corporation can withdraw its intent before then (section 211).

What it doesn’t mean. The corporation hasn’t been dissolved yet, and the status doesn’t say when, or whether, it will be.

Where to check. The “Certificates and filings” part of the federal record in Search for a Federal Corporation.

Active - Discontinuance Pending

What it means. The corporation is in the process of moving from the federal law that governs it to another law, such as a provincial law or the law of another country (glossary). Until the move is complete, it remains a federal corporation: the Canada Business Corporations Act stops applying to it on the date shown in its certificate of discontinuance (section 188).

What it doesn’t mean. It doesn’t mean the business is closing. A discontinuance changes which law governs the corporation: the corporation is continued under the other law, as if it had been incorporated under it (section 188).

Where to check. The federal record in Search for a Federal Corporation; after the move, the registry of the province or country it moved to.

Dissolved

What it means. The corporation’s legal existence has ended under the law that governed it (Search tips). The published detail says how, following Corporations Canada’s glossary: dissolved by the corporation (it chose to end its existence), for non-compliance (the Director ended it for not meeting its Act’s requirements), by court order, or by Corporations Canada (it didn’t move to its new Act within the time allowed). Under the Canada Business Corporations Act, a corporation ceases to exist on the date shown in its certificate of dissolution (sections 211 and 212).

What it doesn’t mean. A dissolved corporation’s page is about that corporation only. Another business with the same or a similar name is a separate record and may be active. A dissolution can also be undone: an interested person can apply to the Director to have a dissolved corporation revived (section 209). Corporations Canada’s open data doesn’t include the date of dissolution.

Where to check. The federal record in Search for a Federal Corporation lists the corporation’s certificates and filings, with their dates.

Inactive - Amalgamated

What it means. The corporation merged with one or more other corporations to form a new one (Search tips): under the Canada Business Corporations Act, the corporations amalgamate and continue as one corporation (section 181). The amalgamated corporation gets its own corporation number (glossary) and has its own record.

What it doesn’t mean. “Inactive” here doesn’t mean the business stopped. It means this record was replaced by the record of the amalgamated corporation.

Where to check. The “Corporate history” part of the federal record in Search for a Federal Corporation.

Inactive - Discontinued

What it means. The corporation is no longer governed by a law that Corporations Canada administers (glossary): it moved to another law, such as a provincial law or the law of another country (Search tips; section 188).

What it doesn’t mean. The corporation may still exist and operate under its new law. The federal record stops at the move.

Where to check. The registry of the province, territory or country it moved to. Under “Official lookups”, business pages link to the registry of the listing’s province or territory where we list one.

In a federal record

Federal since

What it means. The date the corporation came under the federal law that governs it now: the date it was incorporated or amalgamated, or, for a corporation that was continued (moved in from another jurisdiction or from another Act), the date it first came under its current Act. Corporations Canada calls it the anniversary date (glossary). Business pages show it as “Federal since”, with the time since then.

What it doesn’t mean. It isn’t necessarily when the business started, or when the corporation first came under federal law. A business may have operated before, for example as a provincial corporation or a sole proprietorship; an amalgamation gives the new corporation a new date; and a not-for-profit corporation that moved from the older Canada Corporations Act to the Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act shows the date of that move.

Where to check. “Anniversary date” and “Corporate history” in the federal record, in Search for a Federal Corporation.

Annual returns

What it means. Federal business corporations (Canada Business Corporations Act, section 263), not-for-profit corporations (Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act, section 278) and co-operatives file an annual return with Corporations Canada every year, within 60 days after their anniversary date (glossary, “Annual filing period”). A business corporation doesn’t file for the year it was incorporated, amalgamated or continued (Policy on annual filings). Boards of trade, and not-for-profit corporations still under Part II of the older Canada Corporations Act, file an annual summary between March 31 and June 1 instead. “Latest year on file” is the most recent year for which Corporations Canada’s open data shows an annual filing.

What it doesn’t mean. An annual return isn’t a tax return; it’s separate from what a corporation files with the CRA. It helps keep Corporations Canada’s information about the corporation current. A year that looks old can simply mean that this year’s filing window is still open, or that the filing was made after the date of the file shown.

Where to check. “Annual filings” in the federal record, in Search for a Federal Corporation, shows the filing period and the status of filings. For not-for-profits, see Your reporting obligations under the NFP Act.

Last annual meeting

What it means. The date of the last annual meeting of shareholders or members that the corporation reported to Corporations Canada in its annual return. An annual meeting is where shareholders or members consider the financial statements and elect the directors, among other things (glossary). Under the Canada Business Corporations Act, the directors call the first annual meeting no later than 18 months after the corporation comes into existence, then each one no later than 15 months after the previous one and six months after the end of the preceding financial year (section 133).

What it doesn’t mean. A meeting wasn’t necessarily held on that date. A written resolution that deals with everything the meeting has to, signed by all the shareholders entitled to vote, can take its place (section 142; for members, Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act, section 166). Corporations Canada then asks for the date the resolution was signed (Policy on annual filings). The open data has the date only, not what was decided.

Where to check. “Date of last annual meeting” in the federal record, in Search for a Federal Corporation.

Registered office

What it means. The corporation’s legal address on file with Corporations Canada (glossary). A business corporation must have its registered office in the province named in its articles, and must tell Corporations Canada within 15 days when the address changes (section 19).

What it doesn’t mean. It may not be where the business operates: it can be a law or accounting office, for example. When 10 or more active federal corporations list the same registered office, the page shows that count. Sharing a registered office is common and doesn’t mean the corporations are connected. Pages about dissolved or inactive corporations, and record history, show the city only.

Where to check. “Registered office address” in the federal record, in Search for a Federal Corporation.

Corporation, business and other numbers

What they mean.

• Corporation number: assigned by Corporations Canada when a corporation first comes under its jurisdiction, for example by incorporation, amalgamation or continuance (glossary).
• Business number (BN): assigned by the CRA: a nine-digit number that identifies the business, plus a six-character identifier for each of its CRA accounts (glossary), such as RT0001 for GST/HST. Business pages show the nine digits.
• Charity registration number: the nine-digit business number, then RR and a four-digit reference number, usually 0001, as in 123456789 RR 0001 (CRA, Search tips for the List of charities).
• FINTRAC registration number, RBQ licence number and Québec enterprise number (NEQ): issued by FINTRAC, by the RBQ, and by Québec’s enterprise register.

What they don’t mean. A number identifies a record in that register. On its own, it isn’t an approval of the business, and a business number on its own doesn’t show that a business is registered for GST/HST.

Where to check. Search by number in Search for a Federal Corporation. To confirm a GST/HST number on an invoice, use the CRA’s GST/HST Registry.

Numbered companies

What it means. A corporation can ask to have a number as its name: a number followed by “Canada” and a legal ending such as Inc. or Ltd., as in “1234567 Canada Inc.” (Canada Business Corporations Act, section 11). It’s an ordinary option under the Act.

What it doesn’t mean. A numbered name says nothing about the business. A corporation can carry on business under a name other than its corporate name (section 10).

Where to check. Search by corporation number in Search for a Federal Corporation, and the business-name registry of the province where the business operates.

Put together by fraud.ca

These sections aren’t official records. We build them from the official files, and they can contain mistakes. Business pages have a “Report a mistake” link.

Record history

What it means. Changes we saw between two of Corporations Canada’s open data files, such as a new status, name, registered-office city or annual-filing year. Each change is dated by the two files between which we saw it. We began comparing files with the file of October 14, 2026.

What it doesn’t mean. The official date of a change can be earlier than the dates shown. Changes made before that first file, or made and reversed between two files we compared, don’t appear. Registered-office moves are shown by city only.

Where to check. “Corporate history” and “Certificates and filings” in the federal record, in Search for a Federal Corporation.

Listings with the same name

What it means. Other listings in our directory whose names match after we set aside capital letters, accents, punctuation, a leading “The” and legal endings such as Inc. or Ltd. These lists show active corporations and storefront listings; dissolved corporations aren’t listed on other pages. A dissolved corporation’s own page lists active records with the same name, to help you find the one you’re looking for. “Possibly the same business” is different: it links a corporation and a storefront listing whose names are related and that share an address or a phone number. Neither is checked by a person.

What it doesn’t mean. A shared name doesn’t mean it’s the same business, or that the businesses are connected.

Where to check. Compare the address, the phone number and the corporation number, and look at each business’s own official record.

Other official lists

A business page shows one of these lists only when we matched the listing to an entry, and it says how we matched it. When a page has none of these sections, it only means we didn’t match an entry to that listing; the official list is the place to check.

Registered charities (CRA)

What it means. The CRA’s List of charities covers organizations registered as charities under the Income Tax Act, which can issue official donation receipts (CRA open data, List of charities). Each has one of three designations: charitable organization, public foundation or private foundation (Types of registered charities). The figures come from the information return (T3010) each charity files every year, as the charity reported them.

What it doesn’t mean. Registration isn’t a rating of how a charity is run, and the figures cover one fiscal year. A charity’s status can change after the year shown. Charity details appear only on pages about active corporations and storefront listings.

Where to check. The CRA’s List of charities, which you can search by name or registration number, gives each organization’s charity status.

Money services businesses (FINTRAC)

What it means. Money services businesses operating in Canada, such as those offering money transfers or foreign exchange, and foreign ones that direct and provide services to clients in Canada, must register with FINTRAC (the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada) before they begin to operate (FINTRAC, Money Services Business Registry). A registration has to be renewed every two years.

What it doesn’t mean. FINTRAC says registration “does not indicate that FINTRAC endorses or licenses the business”; it shows that the business met the legal requirements to register. Business pages show only entries listed as Registered.

Where to check. FINTRAC’s Money Services Business Registry shows the current registration.

Québec contractor licences (RBQ)

What it means. In Québec, anyone who carries out construction work, or has it carried out, must hold a licence from the Régie du bâtiment du Québec, unless the law exempts them (Données Québec, list of active RBQ licences, in French). The RBQ’s open list includes active licences only. A licence has one or more subcategories (the RBQ’s English pages call them subclasses), and the work it authorizes depends on them (RBQ, Licence classes and subclasses).

What it doesn’t mean. A licence doesn’t cover every kind of work, so compare its subcategories with the job. A business page shows a licence only when the listing’s phone number, name and postal code match it; the match isn’t checked by a person.

Where to check. The RBQ’s Check a contractor’s licence page, for the licence’s subcategories, any restrictions and its security (bond).

Phone numbers

What it means. The first three digits of a Canadian phone number are its area code. A geographic area code serves an area, and one area can have several codes (Canadian Numbering Administrator, FAQ; Canadian area code maps); a few codes serve more than one province or territory, such as 867 in the three territories. Numbers that start with 800, 833, 844, 855, 866, 877 or 888 are toll-free and aren’t tied to a region. On storefront pages, a short line under the phone number says when it’s toll-free, when its area code is from a province other than the listing’s, or when its area code is outside Canada.

What it doesn’t mean. An area code is a fact about the number. It doesn’t show where the business is located.

Where to check. The contact details on the business’s own website, invoices or documents.

Our sources

• Federal corporation records: Corporations Canada (Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada), Federal Corporations open data. Open Government Licence – Canada. File of October 16, 2026.
• Storefront listings (name, address, phone, website, category): Overture Maps Foundation, Places data, combining sources including Meta and Microsoft (CDLA-Permissive-2.0), Foursquare (Apache 2.0) and All the Places (CC0). File of September 23, 2026.
• Registered charities: Canada Revenue Agency, List of charities open data. Open Government Licence – Canada. File of May 28, 2026.
• Money services businesses: FINTRAC, Money services business registry open data. Open Government Licence – Canada. File of October 8, 2026.
• Québec contractor licences: Régie du bâtiment du Québec, Liste des licences actives (Données Québec), CC BY 4.0; we match its entries to listings by phone number, name and postal code. File of October 17, 2026.
• Area codes: Canadian Numbering Administrator, from its published list of exchange areas. File of October 17, 2026.

Sections built from official files name the file and its date. Statuses, act names and other values are shown as published, apart from display formatting such as capital letters in names. The sources can contain errors, and so can our matching. To correct something, use “Report a mistake” on the business page or write to support@fraud.ca. See also How we verify and About fraud.ca.

Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Canada.