Certificate of Status – Official Proof Your Alberta Corporation Is in Good Standing

Certificate of status in Alberta: what it confirms and what it does not

• Existence. The corporation is on the Alberta register under the name shown.
• Status. It is active, not struck or dissolved.
• Annual returns. Good standing means the annual returns are filed. Alberta corporations file one every year in the anniversary month of incorporation; miss it and Corporate Registry sends notices, keep missing it and the corporation is struck (dissolved).
• The date. The certificate speaks as of the date issued. Many recipients want one dated within the last 30 days, so order it close to when you need it.

It does not confirm who the directors are, who owns the shares, or what has been filed; that is the corporate profile report. It says nothing about tax filings, which are with CRA, or about lawsuits or debts.

Certificate of good standing, certificate of existence or certificate of status?

Banks and out-of-province lawyers use different names for the same idea. In Alberta, the document Corporate Registry issues is the certificate of status. If a request says "certificate of good standing" or "certificate of existence", the Alberta certificate of status is normally what they want; send us the request and we confirm before ordering.

Alberta asks the same of corporations coming here: an out-of-province corporation registering in Alberta must include proof of current status from its home registry. Other provinces ask the same of Alberta corporations going their way.

Who this is for

• The owner whose bank wants "proof of good standing" before opening an account, renewing a line of credit or funding a loan, usually by Friday.
• The owner selling the business, or buying one, whose lawyer needs a current certificate for closing.
• The owner registering the Alberta corporation in another province, where the registry asks for proof of current status from the home registry.
• The accountant, lawyer or paralegal ordering certificates for several clients, who needs a PDF today and partner pricing.

How it works

1. You give us the corporation's name or number in a two-minute form, and tell us who is asking for the certificate.
2. A CORES-trained agent checks the record within one business hour: the corporation is active and its annual returns are on file. If a return is overdue, we tell you before anything is ordered.
3. We order the certificate through a licensed Alberta registry agent. ACS is a private company; we are not a government office or a registry agent.
4. You receive the PDF by email, usually the same business day for orders received before 3:00 pm MT.

If a certificate cannot be issued, our refund policy explains what happens.

Common mistakes we catch before ordering

• Ordering before overdue annual returns are filed. The certificate reflects the record as it stands. We check the record first.
• The wrong entity. A trade name, a holding company with a similar name, or the operating company when the bank wants the holding company.
• Ordering too early. A certificate dated six weeks before closing may be refused; we time it to the request.
• Asking for a certificate for a struck corporation. The route is a revival, which includes the outstanding returns.
• A certificate when a profile report was needed. If the request asks for directors or shareholders, the certificate will not satisfy it.

What you need before you start

• The corporation's exact legal name, or its corporate access number. A trade name (a business name that is not the legal name) is not enough; the certificate is issued for the corporation.
• Annual returns up to date. Good standing means the annual returns are filed. If one is overdue, file it first; we check before ordering.
• Who the certificate is for, and whether they want it dated within a set number of days, so we can time the order.
• An email address and a credit card. You do not need a registry login, because certificates, like other transactions in CORES (Alberta's Corporate Registry System), go through a licensed registry agent.

• A certificate of status issued by Alberta Corporate Registry (the government office that keeps the record of every Alberta corporation) for the corporation you name, dated the day it is issued.
• A check by a CORES-trained agent before ordering: right corporation, current status, annual returns on file, so you do not pay for a certificate that will not say what your bank needs.
• The certificate as a PDF by email, usually the same business day for orders received before 3:00 pm MT; a paper copy by mail on request.
• The government fee, paid on your behalf and included in the price.
• If the record shows a problem, a plain explanation of what to file first, with the annual return filed the same day if you want.