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How to research Canadian public records

Short answer

These guides answer the question people ask before they know a product exists: how to find someone in Canada, how to find assets behind a judgment, how to confirm that a person you met online is real. Each one lists the free steps first, then states plainly what Canadian public records cannot do.

Across these guides: 43 steps you can run yourself for nothing, and 34 requests we state plainly cannot be met by anyone lawfully.

5 guides

Start here

The four situations that account for most of the questions we get, each written to be the best answer available anywhere — including the parts where the answer is no.

how to find someone in canada

Records Report · $249

How to Find Someone in Canada

You need to reach someone — an old friend, a relative, a debtor, a witness — and the last contact information you have is dead. You've tried searching their name and got nothing useful.
6 of 7 steps free5 things it cannot do

how to verify someone you met online

Records Report · $249

How to Verify Someone You Met Online

You've been talking to someone for weeks. Something feels slightly off, or a friend raised an eyebrow, or they've started mentioning money. You want to know if they're real before you go further.
5 of 6 steps free4 things it cannot do

how to collect a judgment in canada

Records Report · $249

How to Find Assets to Collect a Judgment in Canada

You have a judgment. The debtor is ignoring it, claims they have nothing, or has gone quiet. You need to know whether there is anything worth enforcing against before you spend more on lawyers.
5 of 6 steps free4 things it cannot do

hidden assets divorce canada

Records Report · $249

How to Find Undisclosed Assets in a Family Law Matter

You're separating. Their sworn financial statement claims far less than you know they have — a business that suddenly shows no income, a property you were told was sold, a lifestyle the numbers don't support.
4 of 5 steps free5 things it cannot do

how to vet a business partner canada

Records Report · $249

How to Check Out a Business Partner Before You Sign

Someone wants your money, your signature, or your credit. They're persuasive and the paperwork looks fine. You want to know what the public record says before you commit.
6 of 6 steps free4 things it cannot do

3 guides

More guides

Narrower questions, same method: free steps first, honest limits stated.

how to find out what property someone owns canada

Records Report · $249

How to Find Out What Property Someone Owns in Canada

You need to know whether a particular person owns real estate — for a judgment, a family law matter, an estate, or before extending credit. You've searched their name and found nothing.
6 of 6 steps free4 things it cannot do

how to find out if someone has been sued in canada

Records Report · $249

How to Find Out If Someone Has Been Sued in Canada

You want to know whether a person or company has a litigation history — before you hire them, sign with them, lend to them, or rely on them.
5 of 6 steps free5 things it cannot do

what can people find out about me online canada

Preliminary Scan · Free

How to Find Out What's Publicly Findable About You

You're about to be searched — by an employer, a landlord, a date, a counterparty — and you want to know what they'll see before they see it.
6 of 6 steps free3 things it cannot do

Why the guides are written this way

Free steps first, limits stated

The free steps genuinely work

Telephone directories, Corporations Canada, Québec’s REQ, professional registers, obituaries, CanLII, and the Wayback Machine are all free. A meaningful share of questions resolve there in twenty minutes, and every guide says so before it mentions a paid search.

The impossible list is the point

Bank accounts, income, voter rolls, driver records, mobile numbers, and marriage records are not lawfully obtainable in Canada by anyone. Naming that is what makes the rest of the page trustworthy — and it is the section that gets cited.

Telling you not to buy

Every guide carries a “when not to buy this” note. A discharged bankruptcy means no asset report will help; an uncommon surname plus a city often needs no report at all. Saying so costs one sale and earns the next one.

Markdown /how-to.md — the same content with no navigation chrome, for machine readers.

How-To Guides — Canadian Public Records | Sleuthify