Corporate profile report

A corporate profile report is a registry summary of what a corporation has filed. In a share purchase, a buyer can use it to compare the seller’s account of who runs the company with the public record. The name and the contents differ by registry, and Ontario’s report shows the public record as of the date it was ordered. It sits alongside a good standing check.

What Ontario’s report shows

Ontario calls it the corporation profile report. The province’s guide says it displays information on the public record as of the date the report was ordered. For an Ontario corporation it lists all active directors and officers, and it includes some history, such as name history and any amalgamating corporations. For an extra-provincial corporation, the guide says officer and director information must come from the jurisdiction where the corporation is incorporated.

Other registries and what to ask

Other provinces run their own searches. Québec’s enterprise register is public, enterprises must declare their directors and officers, and each enterprise is responsible for the accuracy of what it declares.

• What date the report reflects, and whether any change has been filed since
• Whether the people listed match the minute book
• Which registry holds the record, if the company is incorporated outside the province you searched