How do I look up a Canadian corporation by corporation number from an API?

Call GET /companies/search?company_number=426160-7&country=CA. The hyphen is optional. The check digit is advisory: a number that fails it is still looked up. A value that cannot be a corporation number (letters, more than eight digits, or a 9-digit Business Number) is a 400 validation error.

Can I look up a Canadian corporation by Business Number?

Yes. Pass the 9-digit Business Number as business_number with country=CA, for example 847871746. A Business Number is not unique to one corporation, so the search can return several, such as a successor and its predecessors.

Does the Canadian record include officers, company events or insolvency notices?

No. Canada is company-level: legal name, governing statute, status, registered address with the province, the Business Number, other names and dates. There are no officers, no registry-compliance signal, no activity code, no share capital, no VAT number, no insolvency status and no insolvency notices. Register-change events (name, status, legal form and registered address changes, dated when the change first appears in the register data, none before the first load in October 2026) and company monitoring are available.

Is there an activity code or a GST/HST number?

No. The register data carries neither.

Are Quebec corporations with French and English names served?

Yes, if they are federal. The record carries the first name form as company_name, and the other form is in registry_details (other_names).

Can I call the API from the browser?

You can, but a key in the browser is public. Proxy the search through your server. Rate limits are per key.

Is there a way to try it before signing up?

Yes: the free Canadian corporation number lookup runs the same call with a shared key.

Canada company data API: look up a federal corporation

A customer types a Canadian corporation number, a Business Number or the first letters of a name; your form fills in the legal name, governing statute, status and registered address from Corporations Canada. One key and one response shape, the same as every other country the API covers.

Company records from Corporations Canada (Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada): corporation name, legal form (the governing statute), status (including dissolution pending, intent to dissolve, amalgamation and discontinuance), registered address with the province or territory, the Business Number, other names, and dates; updated daily. Federal corporations only: those incorporated under the Canada Business Corporations Act and the Canada Cooperatives Act, with the repealed Canada Corporations Act Part I corporations kept as history. Provincial and territorial companies, banks, insurance companies, not-for-profit corporations and boards of trade are not included. No officers, no registry-compliance signal, no activity code, no share capital, no VAT (GST/HST) number and no insolvency status. Register-change events (name, status, legal form and registered address changes, dated when the change first appears in the register data, none before the first load in October 2026) and company monitoring are available.

What the Canadian record gives your product

Exact match on the corporation number: company_number=426160-7 with country=CA. The hyphen is optional and the check digit is advisory.
Business Number search: business_number=847871746 with country=CA. It can match more than one corporation.
Autocomplete by name: a normalised, partial match ranked by a match score, one call per keystroke.
The fields a form needs: legal name, governing statute, status, registered address with the province, other names.

What Canada does not carry

Federal corporations only: provincial and territorial companies, banks, insurance companies, not-for-profit corporations and boards of trade are not included. No officers, no activity code, no share capital, no VAT number, no insolvency status.

Pricing

Canada is included in every plan at no upcharge. 14-day free trial, card required, nothing charged for 14 days.

Read the full page · Start your 14-day free trial

Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Canada (Corporations Canada, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada)

What the Canadian record gives your product

Field	What it holds for Canada
`company_number`	The corporation number, 2 to 8 digits shown with a hyphen: `426160-7`.
`company_name`	The name as registered.
`legal_form`, `local_legal_form`	The form (Corp. for a CBCA corporation, CCA for a cooperative) and, in `local_legal_form`, the governing statute: CBCA, CCA (Canada Cooperatives Act), or a repealed Canada Corporations Act form.
`status`, `stage`	The standard reading of the register’s state; the register’s own status code is kept in `status_code`.
`address`, `postal_code`, `city`, `region`	The registered address; `region` holds the province or territory as an ISO 3166-2 code.
`business_number`	The 9-digit Business Number.
`registry_details`	Other names (`other_names`), including the second language form of the name.

Frequently asked questions

How do I look up a Canadian corporation by corporation number from an API?: Call GET /companies/search?company_number=426160-7&country=CA. The hyphen is optional. The check digit is advisory: a number that fails it is still looked up. A value that cannot be a corporation number (letters, more than eight digits, or a 9-digit Business Number) is a 400 validation error.
Can I look up a Canadian corporation by Business Number?: Yes. Pass the 9-digit Business Number as business_number with country=CA, for example 847871746. A Business Number is not unique to one corporation, so the search can return several, such as a successor and its predecessors.
Does it cover every Canadian company?: No. Federal corporations only, those incorporated under the Canada Business Corporations Act and the Canada Cooperatives Act. Provincial and territorial companies, banks, insurance companies, not-for-profit corporations and boards of trade are not included, so a lookup of one returns nothing even though it exists.
Does the Canadian record include officers, company events or insolvency notices?: No. Canada is company-level: legal name, governing statute, status, registered address with the province, the Business Number, other names and dates. There are no officers, no registry-compliance signal, no activity code, no share capital, no VAT number, no insolvency status and no insolvency notices. Register-change events (name, status, legal form and registered address changes, dated when the change first appears in the register data, none before the first load in October 2026) and company monitoring are available.
Is there an activity code or a GST/HST number?: No. The register data carries neither.
Are Quebec corporations with French and English names served?: Yes, if they are federal. The record carries the first name form as company_name, and the other form is in registry_details (other_names).
How fresh is the data?: Daily.
Can I call the API from the browser?: You can, but a key in the browser is public. Proxy the search through your server. Rate limits are per key.
Is there a way to try it before signing up?: Yes: the free Canadian corporation number lookup runs the same call with a shared key.