Corporate Access Number – Find Your Alberta Corporation's Number

Corporate access number lookup: what the number is

Alberta Corporate Registry keeps a record of every Alberta corporation in CORES, the Corporate Registry System run by Service Alberta. Each corporation on that record carries a corporate access number. The number stays with the corporation for life, including through a name change, which is why banks, lawyers and registry agents prefer it to the name.

There is no owner "company key" or password in Alberta, because business owners do not file in CORES themselves. Filings go through licensed registry agents, and a registry agent locates your corporation by its name or its corporate access number.

Where the number appears

• Certificate of Incorporation, issued when the corporation was created.
• Any corporate search or profile report ordered from Corporate Registry.
• Filed notices and annual returns in your minute book, which carry the corporation's identifiers.
• Corporate Registry's annual return reminder, mailed to the registered office one month before the anniversary month.

What you use it for

• Filing an annual return, a change of directors or a change of address: quote the number and the record is found without ambiguity.
• Opening or updating a corporate bank account, where the bank may ask for the number alongside a corporate search.
• Giving your CPA or lawyer the exact entity to work on when you own more than one corporation, such as an operating company and a holding company.
• Ordering a certificate of status, a profile report or a certified copy of your articles.

Who this is for

• The owner who needs the number for a form today and cannot find the incorporation documents.
• The owner with several numbered companies who wants to be certain which is which.
• The bookkeeper or accountant collecting corporate identifiers for a client file.

How it works

1. Type the corporation's name (or part of it) into the search on this page.
2. Pick the right corporation from the results; the corporate access number and current status show with it.
3. Need the full record? Order a corporate profile report, which lists the directors, addresses and status as held by Corporate Registry, for $68 + GST.

Common mistakes we help you avoid

• Mixing up the corporate access number and the CRA business number. Corporate Registry issues one; the Canada Revenue Agency issues the other.
• Searching a trade name instead of the legal name. A corporation trading as "Bow Valley Plumbing" may be "1234567 Alberta Ltd." on the register.
• Quoting the number of a sister company. Owners of several numbered companies mix them up more often than you would think.

What you need before you start

• The corporation's legal name, or as much of it as you remember.
• Nothing else. The lookup is free and needs no account.

Requirements in Alberta

• Every Alberta corporation has a corporate access number on the registry record.
• A corporation formed outside Alberta and registered here has an Alberta registration record and number as well.