Corporation records of the Government of Ontario

A guide to finding records about businesses that were incorporated in Ontario before 1979.

Black and white image of a city directory from 1896 showing a large advertisement for the T. Eaton Company.
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About government corporation records

The Government of Ontario keeps regular records about businesses that registered for incorporation in the province. We have these from 1868 to 1979.

A corporation is a business that is legally separate from its shareholders. In practice, this means the shareholders are not personally financially liable for the corporation’s debts.

Corporations include the words or abbreviations “Corporation”, “Corp.”, “Incorporated”, “Inc.”, “Incorporée”, “Limited”, “Limitée”, “Ltd”, “Ltée.” in their legal name.

What these records include

Government corporation files include:

  • correspondence about the incorporation and dissolution of a business
  • annual returns (business information required by government)
  • certificate of incorporation (after 1971)

Most government corporation records do not provide information about:

  • finances
  • administrative practices
  • products
  • employees

We hold the private records of some Ontario corporations. These have information about the above subjects. Learn more in the related records section of this topic.

Find corporation files, 1868-1979

Researching corporation records by subject is a two-step process.

Step 1. Search the Corporation List

The Corporation List is an index of businesses incorporated in Ontario between 1868 and April 2008. It provides you with the:

  • corporation number
  • corporation’s legal name
  • date of incorporation
  • date or era of dissolution (if applicable)
rows of black computer printed text on white background showing names and codes assigned to Ontario corporations
Example from the Corporation List

 

How to use the Corporation List to find a corporation file:

  1. Request the Corporation List from a reference desk in the Reading Room.
  2. Search the Corporation List by keywords in the corporation’s name. For example, there will be identical entries for The Bancroft Mica Company Limited under “Bancroft” and “Mica”. Search using the keyword likely to have fewer entries (in this example, “Mica”).
  3. Take note of the corporation number (Ont. Corp No.)
  4. Take note of the 9 or T in the right-side column:

Step 2. Find the corporation files

Corporation records after 1979

Split files

We have some annual returns and routine correspondence for corporations that were still active in 1979. These documents were considered of lesser importance to the government and were split from incorporation files and sent to us.

To find split files:

  1. See the finding aid for active corporation files (RG 55-4) to find with the corporation number you have.
  2. Submit a request to view records in-person with the following information:
  • reference code RG 55-5
  • corporation number (include the prefix “TC” – we hold files TC 1-3155, TC 3221, TC 21293-23885)
  • name of corporation

Businesses incorporated after 1979

ServiceOntario holds records for businesses incorporated after 1979, including those that have since dissolved.

Consult the Corporation List to find:

  • corporation numbers
  • years of incorporation and dissolution

for businesses incorporated before April 2008.

To request records for businesses incorporated after 1979, contact the Business Registry Office.

Partnership and benevolent society records

We hold business registration records for non-incorporated companies and benevolent societies.

Bankruptcy records

We have files of individuals and companies that filed for bankruptcy in Ontario up to 1995.

T. Eaton Company fonds (F 229)

We hold the private records of the T. Eaton Company – known as “Eaton’s” – which dominated Canada’s retail sector for most of the twentieth century.

Get help with your research

We can point you to useful resources to help you with your research. Contact us.

For professional research help, we have a list of private companies and freelance researchers who can do research on your behalf.

Glossary of terms

Annual returns: documentation that corporations are required to file every year that provide the government with up-to-date information about the business name, location and leadership personnel.

Charters of incorporation: the “birth record” for a new corporation held by the government.

Extra-provincial license: a license granted by the government to corporations to operate in Ontario if they were already incorporated outside of the province.