Corporations Canada, part of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, keeps the register of corporations incorporated under federal law: the Canada Business Corporations Act (CBCA) and the Canada Cooperatives Act. Each has a corporation number of 2 to 8 digits shown as 426160-7 (Shopify Inc.) and, usually, a 9-digit Business Number from the Canada Revenue Agency.
Federal corporations only. Provincial and territorial companies, banks and insurance companies are not included.
The corporation number is 2 to 8 digits with an advisory check digit, shown 426160-7. The Business Number is 9 digits, searched with business_number=, and can be shared by a successor and its predecessor, so a search can return more than one corporation.
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only: those incorporated under the Canada Business Corporations Act and the Canada Cooperatives Act, with the repealed Canada Corporations Act Part I corporations kept as history.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.
GET /companies/search?company_number=426160-7&country=CA returns the record; business_number=847871746 finds corporations by Business Number. The free corporation number lookup runs the same call without a key.
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Official sources: Corporations Canada · Open Government portal. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Canada (Corporations Canada, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada)
| Name | What it is |
|---|---|
| Corporations Canada | The federal registry. The source of the corporation name, number, governing statute, status, registered address, Business Number and dates. |
| Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) | Assigns the 9-digit Business Number that a federal corporation carries. The register holds the number; the CRA’s own accounts, such as GST/HST, are not in the data. |
| Open Government portal | The national open data site, where Corporations Canada publishes the register under the Open Government Licence – Canada. |
| Credit line | Prometiam’s Canadian records carry "Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Canada (Corporations Canada, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada)". |
| Field | Notes |
|---|---|
| Corporation name | The name form the register lists first. The other name form and any other names are in registry_details (other_names), which matters for Quebec corporations that register a French and an English name. |
| Legal form | The governing statute: CBCA (Canada Business Corporations Act), CCA (Canada Cooperatives Act) and the repealed Canada Corporations Act Part I forms, kept as history. |
| Status | Active; active with dissolution pending (struck off for non-compliance, still on the register); intent to dissolve filed; amalgamated; discontinued (continued under another jurisdiction); dissolved, including by court order or for non-compliance. The register’s own status code is kept beside the standard status. |
| Registered address | Street, city, postal code and the province or territory in region as its ISO 3166-2 code (ON, QC, BC). |
| Business Number | business_number, 9 digits. |
| Dates | The founding date as the register gives it. |