Searching liens under the Personal Property Security Act in Manitoba

Manitoba’s Personal Property Registry is an electronic registry where creditors register notices of a security interest, which the registry describes as a lien, in personal property. It is administered by Teranet Manitoba on behalf of the province in accordance with The Personal Property Security Act. For someone buying a Manitoba business’s equipment, vehicles or other assets, a search of that registry is how you see what a lender or supplier has registered against the seller. This guide covers who runs the registry, who may search, a change of registry system announced for autumn 2026, and the questions to settle before a search is ordered. It is a starting point for a conversation with your lawyer, not a substitute for one.

Who runs the registry and who may search

Teranet Manitoba states that it administers the registry for the Province under the Act, and that anyone can search it to see whether a security interest has been registered affecting personal property they intend to buy or accept as collateral. That wording covers both sides of a business sale: a buyer checking the assets being purchased, and a lender weighing what it would take as security. Teranet’s account page adds that you do not need an account to search online. An account is needed to register a security interest, and regular customers can apply for a deposit account to pay for searches and registrations.

The October 2026 system change

A Teranet Manitoba notice dated 10 September 2026 said a new Personal Property Registry would launch on Thursday, 1 October 2026. The registry was to be unavailable from 4:30 PM CDT on Friday, 25 September until 8:30 AM CDT on 1 October while records were migrated. The notice also said the address used to reach the registry would change to www.ppr.tprmb.ca and that existing users could log in with their current email address and password plus a multi-factor authentication code. Teranet separately noted scheduled maintenance windows on Sundays throughout October. If your timeline runs through that period, check Teranet’s site for the current address and status before you plan around a search.

What the search is meant to answer

The question Teranet frames is narrow: has a security interest been registered affecting the personal property in question. For a business purchase, that means listing the assets the sale includes and the names under which a lender might have registered. It does not tell you whether the underlying debt is still owing, what the seller and the secured party agreed, or whether a different kind of claim exists elsewhere. Ask your lawyer which search criteria the Manitoba system offers, such as the debtor’s name or a serial number, and which fit each asset. Do not assume the criteria match another province’s. If the seller also operates elsewhere, ask your lawyer whether the same assets should be searched in more than one province.

Printed results are a snapshot

A search result describes the registry on the day it was produced. If a result was printed before the system change and your deal closes after it, order a fresh search close to closing rather than relying on the earlier printout. The same applies to any deal that takes weeks to close: registrations can be added, amended or discharged in the meantime. Agree with the seller and your lawyer when the final search will be run and who will review it. It also helps to keep the search in the deal timetable as its own step, with a named person responsible for ordering it and for reporting what it shows, so that a registration found late does not push the closing date.

Where to read the law and the fees

The Province publishes the Act as The Personal Property Security Act, C.C.S.M. c. P35, and your lawyer can confirm the current text of the Act and its regulations. Teranet publishes fees and forms for the registry on its own pages, so fees are best read there. Because fees and forms can change with a new system, check them on the day you plan to order a search and budget for more than one search if the deal has several parties. Teranet’s site also lists Land Titles Online as a separate service, which is a different record from the personal property registry.

• Which legal names and individuals should be searched, including any former names of the business.
• Whether the assets include vehicles or equipment that should also be searched by serial number, if the Manitoba system offers that.
• Whether the search will be run by you, your lawyer or a lender, and on what date.
• What each registration found secures, and who will obtain a discharge if it is not meant to survive closing.
• Whether a fresh search will be run on or just before the closing date.

For what a search can and cannot show, read which liens a registry search will miss alongside this guide.