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Asset Search — Canada

Short answer

A Canadian asset search identifies real property, corporate holdings, registered security interests, liens, and judgments connected to a person. It draws on land title registries, personal property security registries, corporate registries, and court records. It cannot reach bank accounts, income, or investment balances — those are not public in Canada by any lawful means.

Draws on 9 record sources, each named below with the statutory basis we rely on. See the list.

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What is findable, and what is not

Canadian asset research works from registries that exist to give notice to the public: land titles, so purchasers know who owns what; PPSA registries, so lenders know what is already encumbered; corporate registries, so counterparties know who stands behind a company. Everything in those systems is fair game. Bank balances, brokerage accounts, RRSPs, and income are not in any public registry, and the only ways to reach them are a court order or a crime. Anyone promising you a bank account search is describing the latter.

The Ontario property problem

Ontario's land registry indexes by property, not by owner. You can look up who owns a given address; you cannot ask which properties a given person owns. British Columbia's LTSA and Alberta's SPIN2 both support owner-name search, and Québec's registre foncier is searchable and cheap. This asymmetry is the most consequential technical fact in Canadian asset research, and it is why an Ontario asset search leans on inference — matching registered office addresses, mortgage charges in PPSA data, and municipal assessment records — rather than a direct owner lookup.

Encumbrances tell you more than ownership

A property is only an asset to the extent of its equity. PPSA and land registry charges reveal what is already pledged, and a writ of execution tells you another creditor got there first and is actively collecting. For a judgment creditor, an unencumbered vehicle is often a better target than a heavily mortgaged house, so the report ranks findings by realisable value rather than by headline size.

What you receive

In the report

  • Real property in registries that permit owner-name search, with title particulars
  • Registered mortgages and charges against identified property
  • PPSA and RDPRM security registrations naming the subject as debtor
  • Corporate interests, including entities that may hold assets indirectly
  • Registered judgments, writs of execution, and construction liens
  • Bankruptcy and insolvency history
  • A priority-ranked view of what is realistically realisable, and what is already pledged

Honest limits

What asset search canada will not tell you

Every item here is a structural limit of the Canadian record, not a paywall. Anyone promising you these is either misrepresenting what they have or describing something unlawful.

  • Bank accounts, balances, income, and investments are not public in Canada
  • Ontario land registry cannot be searched by owner name
  • Assets held through trusts or nominees may not name the beneficial owner
  • Personal property with no registered security interest leaves no public trace
  • Out-of-country assets are outside our coverage

9 connectors

Sources this search queries

Each source carries the paragraph of the Regulations Specifying Publicly Available Information that permits collecting from it without the subject's consent.

Every source we operate, with fees and coverage

Figures

Numbers worth quoting

Each figure carries its source and the date it was current.
MeasureValueSourceAs of
Canadian provinces whose land registry supports owner-name searchBC, AB, QCProvincial land title authorities2026
Registry fees and coverage change. Figures are stated as of the date shown, not as a standing guarantee.

Questions

asset search canada — common questions

Can you find someone's bank accounts in Canada?

No, and neither can anyone else lawfully. Canadian bank account information is not held in any public registry. It can be reached through a court order in aid of execution, a Norwich order, or examination of a judgment debtor — all of which run through your lawyer and the court, not through a search service. Any company advertising a bank account locate is either lying or committing identity fraud to get it.

How do I find out what property someone owns in Canada?

In British Columbia, Alberta, and Québec you can search the land registry by owner name directly. In Ontario you cannot — the registry indexes by property, so you either need to know the address already or infer holdings from other records such as corporate registered offices, mortgage registrations, and litigation filings. This province-by-province difference is the main reason asset searches vary so much in cost and completeness.

What is a PPSA search and why does it matter for assets?

A Personal Property Security Act search reveals registered security interests against a person's movable property — vehicles, equipment, inventory, and general collateral. It tells you both that an asset probably exists and that a secured creditor already has a claim on it. In Ontario an individual-debtor PPSA search requires the exact legal name and date of birth, which is why intake pushes hard for a date of birth.

Is an asset search useful before I sue someone?

Very. A judgment against someone with no realisable assets costs you the litigation and returns nothing. Running an asset search before filing tells you whether there is anything to collect against, and often reveals corporate structures worth naming as defendants. Most lawyers who do collections work run this search first, not last.

Can assets held in a company be traced to a person?

Sometimes. Corporate registries name directors and officers, so a person can be linked to an entity, and the entity's property holdings are then searchable. What registries often do not publish is beneficial ownership — who ultimately profits. Chaining from a person to a numbered company to a property is exactly the kind of multi-step research the Deep Research tier does manually.

Related

Where to go next

Related services

Guides that use this search

By province

What this search costs and concludes depends on the jurisdiction.

All provinces and territories

Next step

See what the public record has — free

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Canadian Asset Search | Sleuthify