Register of individuals with significant control (ISC register)

The ISC register is one specific statutory record, narrower than the general idea of a beneficial ownership register. A buyer asks to see it to learn who has influence over the company, and whether that matches the sellers named in the deal. It is a separate record from the securities register.

The federal register

Corporations Canada says an individual can have significant control through the shares they own, control or direct, or through control in fact, which it describes as influence that can affect the corporation’s economics, operations and day-to-day management. It says most corporations created under the CBCA have had to keep the register since June 2019, in a form such as a logbook, database or spreadsheet, along with the steps taken to update it; section 21.1 of the Act excludes some corporations, such as reporting issuers. Where a significant number of shares are jointly owned, each individual in the group is listed. Since January 22, 2024, CBCA corporations also file ISC information with Corporations Canada, and part of it is public, though a search cannot be run by an ISC’s name.

Ontario’s register

Section 140.2 of Ontario’s Business Corporations Act requires a corporation to maintain its own register at its registered office or another place in Ontario designated by the directors, subject to the exclusions in that section, such as offering corporations. Section 140.3 deals with requests for disclosure of the register. Other provinces differ.