Limits
What we won’t do, and what nobody can
Three different kinds of no on this page: work we refuse as a matter of policy, purposes we reject at the intake gate, and records that do not exist in a searchable form anywhere in Canada. Knowing which is which before you pay is the point.
Short answer
Verified
Sleuthify will not issue criminal record or credit checks, will not touch anyone’s messages, accounts, or devices, will not locate a person on an ongoing basis, and will not research a child or anyone protected by an order against you. We also refuse employment, tenancy, credit, and insurance purposes outright, and we do no field work of any kind.
8 refusals
Work we will not do at any tier, for any fee
Each one names the reason and, where a lawful alternative exists, what it is. Where none exists, it says none.
Criminal record check
RefusedIn Canada only police services and the RCMP can issue a criminal record check, and it requires the subject's fingerprints or consent. Nobody selling you one online is giving you a real one.InsteadWe report public *court* records, which are a different thing: charges and outcomes that appear in accessible court files.
Credit report or credit score
RefusedOnly a registered consumer reporting agency may furnish these, and only with the subject's consent for a permitted purpose.InsteadWe report public financial signals: liens, PPSA registrations, judgments, and bankruptcy filings.
Access to messages, email, phone, or social accounts
RefusedInterception of private communications is an indictable offence under Criminal Code s.184, and unauthorized use of a computer under s.342.1.InsteadNone. This is not a service gap; it is a crime.
Someone's location in real time, or ongoing monitoring
RefusedContinuous monitoring of a person is not research. Depending on the relationship it is criminal harassment under Criminal Code s.264.InsteadWe report the addresses that appear in the public record, as of the date we retrieved them.
Pretexting — calling a bank or agency posing as the subject
RefusedIdentity fraud under Criminal Code s.403. It is also how most 'cheap' data brokers actually get their data.InsteadWe tell you which records exist and how to lawfully request the ones you are entitled to.
A report on a child
RefusedWe do not research anyone under 18 for a third party, regardless of purpose.InsteadNone.
Anything about someone who has a protection order against you
RefusedLocating a person you are ordered to stay away from would make us party to breaching a court order.InsteadNone. Speak to your lawyer.
Employment, tenancy, credit, or insurance eligibility decisions
RefusedThat use makes the report a 'consumer report' and the seller a consumer reporting agency, which carries registration, subject-notice, and dispute-resolution obligations we do not currently hold.InsteadUse a registered screening provider. We will tell you who, at no charge.
The intake gate
Purposes we refuse before a single search runs
Every case answers all 11 of these statements explicitly. An unanswered item fails the same way a positive answer does — silence is not a pass.
These end the case immediately
A positive answer to any of the following stops the case, is recorded against the account, and no refund is required because nothing was searched.
“There is a protection order, restraining order, peace bond, no-contact condition, or publication ban involving me and this person — in either direction.”
Case terminatedLocating a person you are ordered to stay away from would make us a party to breaching a court order.
“I intend to contact, confront, follow, show up near, or repeatedly communicate with this person against their wishes.”
Case terminatedCriminal Code s.264 — criminal harassment.
“I want to keep track of a current or former partner's movements, location, or communications on an ongoing basis.”
Case terminatedOngoing monitoring of a partner is coercive control, not research. A family law matter is a defined factual question with an endpoint; this is not.
“I want access to this person's messages, email, phone, social accounts, devices, or passwords.”
Case terminatedCriminal Code s.184 (interception of private communications) and s.342.1 (unauthorized use of a computer). We will not do this and cannot be asked to.
“I want someone to pose as this person, or as a bank or government official, to obtain their records.”
Case terminatedCriminal Code s.403 — identity fraud. Pretexting for financial records is a crime in Canada, and it is how most cheap data brokers actually source their data.
“I want to consider this person's race, ancestry, origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, marital or family status, disability, or a pardoned or discharged record.”
Case terminatedProvincial human rights codes prohibit this. Ontario's Code also protects 'record of offences' for provincial offences and pardoned convictions.
“The subject is under 18 and I am not their parent, legal guardian, or counsel in a proceeding about them.”
Case terminatedWe do not research children for third parties.
“I intend to publish, post, resell, or redistribute this report or what's in it.”
Case terminatedThat would make us the source of an unlawful secondary disclosure of personal information.
These we refer out instead
Not because the purpose is illegitimate — because a report used for these decisions is a consumer report, and its seller is a consumer reporting agency with registration, subject notice, and dispute-correction duties we do not hold. We will name a registered provider at no charge.
“I will use this to decide whether to hire, promote, retain, or discipline someone.”
Referred outThat use makes the report a consumer report and us a consumer reporting agency, which requires provincial registration, notice to the subject, and a dispute-correction process we do not operate. It also engages human rights code limits on what may be considered.
We point you to a registered background-screening provider.
“I will use this to decide whether to rent to someone or to evict them.”
Referred outSame consumer-reporting exposure as employment, plus Residential Tenancies Act constraints on what a landlord may require.
We point you to a registered tenant-screening provider.
“I will use this to decide whether to extend credit, set a rate, or issue or price insurance.”
Referred outReserved to registered consumer reporting agencies under provincial consumer-reporting legislation.
We point you to a registered consumer reporting agency.
6 structural gaps
Records Canada does not publish, to anyone
This is the category people find hardest to believe, because American products advertise several of them. None of these is a paywall, a roadmap item, or something a bigger budget reaches.
A public sex offender registry
Canada's National Sex Offender Registry is not public. Only police may access it. Any site claiming to search it for you is lying.A nationwide criminal record search
There is no public national criminal record database. Court records are provincial and often counter-only; a true record check comes from the RCMP via fingerprints, with the subject's consent.Nationwide driver or vehicle records by name
Provincial motor vehicle records are not public. Plate-to-owner lookups are restricted to law enforcement and specific statutory purposes.Marriage and divorce certificates by name
Vital statistics records are restricted to the parties and immediate family. A central divorce registry search requires being a party or their counsel.Bank accounts, balances, or income
Not public anywhere, by any means. Anyone offering this is describing a crime.Ontario property owned, searched by owner name
Ontario's land registry indexes by property, not by owner. Name-to-property in Ontario needs manual research or an inference from other records.
Referrals
The work we send elsewhere
Following someone, observing them, interviewing third parties, and giving sworn testimony are licensed investigative acts. We do not perform them under any tier, and we do not sub-contract them and mark them up.
If your matter genuinely needs that work, we will refer you to a licensed agency in your province and take no fee for the referral. A commission contingent on investigative work could be characterised as carrying on that business jointly, which is precisely the line this company is structured to stay on the right side of. Referrals are free, and we do not receive anything for them.
We also never contact the subject of a search — no calls, no letters, no approaches, at any tier.
| Province | Governing statute | Regulator | Partner agency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ontario | Private Security and Investigative Services Act, 2005 | Ministry of the Solicitor General | Not yet signed |
| British Columbia | Security Services Act | Security Programs Division | Not yet signed |
| Alberta | Security Services and Investigators Act | Alberta Public Safety — Security Programs | Not yet signed |
| Québec | Private Security Act (Loi sur la sécurité privée) | Bureau de la sécurité privée | Not yet signed |
Still not sure your question is answerable?
Ask before you pay. If the record you need does not exist in Canada, we would rather tell you that in an email than take your money and print a gaps section.
Reconciled against the product contracts on 2026-08-12. This page is a description of our policy and of Canadian records practice, not legal advice.