Canadian Public Records Directory

How Public Records Work in Canada

Canada splits its records the same way it splits its government. Ottawa holds federal records — immigration, federal courts, bankruptcies, corporations, the census — while each province and territory holds the records people ask about most: births, deaths, marriages, land titles, provincial court files, and business registrations. There is no single national search box. Knowing which level of government holds a record is 90% of the job, and that is exactly what this directory maps for you.

Two kinds of law shape what you can see. Access laws open records up: the federal Access to Information Act and each province's freedom-of-information law (Ontario's FIPPA, Alberta's FOIP, and so on). Privacy laws close records down: the federal Privacy Act for government files and PIPEDA for businesses. Compared with the United States, the balance tilts toward privacy — several record types that are public in the US are restricted in Canada.

Court Records: Genuinely Open

Canadian courts follow the open court principle — hearings and court files are presumptively public unless a judge orders otherwise (family, youth, and sealed matters are the main exceptions). Written decisions are the easiest records to get: CanLII publishes judgments from every Canadian court, free, with full-text search. For the underlying case file — pleadings, exhibits, dockets — you go to the registry of the specific court, and each province runs its own search system. Our Courts of Canada directory lists every federal and provincial court portal.

Criminal Records: Not Public (The Big US Difference)

This surprises American researchers every time: Canada has no public criminal-records database. The national repository (CPIC, run by the RCMP) is closed to the public. There are no public arrest logs, no mugshot sites, no county-jail rosters. A criminal record check in Canada is something a person requests about themselves — through local police or an RCMP-accredited fingerprinting agency — and employers may only ask for one with the candidate's consent. Name-based checks are the common first step; fingerprint checks through the RCMP's certification service are the accurate, definitive version, and "vulnerable sector" checks add screening for work with children or vulnerable people.

What a researcher can do legally: search court decisions on CanLII for prosecutions that produced a written ruling, check court registries for case files, and search news archives. That is the lawful ceiling.

Vital Records: Provincial and Restricted

Birth, death, and marriage certificates are issued by each province's vital statistics agency, and eligibility is restricted — generally to the person named, parents, or next of kin, with fees in the range of $25–$75 (Ontario's range for birth documents, as one example). You cannot order a stranger's birth certificate in Canada. The public door is historical records: after set waiting periods, old registrations transfer to provincial archives and open for genealogy. Each province page in this directory links its vital statistics office and archives.

Business, Corporate & Bankruptcy Records

Business records are the most open category in Canada. Corporations Canada's federal search is free and confirms any federally incorporated company, its status, directors, and filings; every province runs a registry for provincially incorporated companies. Bankruptcies and insolvencies are searchable nationally through the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy — a search costs $8 (large-company CCAA proceedings are listed free). See the Business Directory for the full registry list.

Land & Property Records

Land titles are public in every province, but almost never free: each province operates (or licenses) its own land registry, and title searches typically carry a per-search fee. There is no national land search. The province pages in this directory link each land registry and assessment service.

Genealogy: Where Canada Is Generous

Historical records are Canada's open side. Library and Archives Canada offers free searchable censuses from 1825 through 1931, immigration passenger lists, naturalization records, and military service files, plus guides for specific communities. Pair LAC with provincial archives (via each province page) and our Canada Genealogy hub.

When Nothing Is Published: Make an ATIP Request

Any record a federal institution holds but hasn't published can be requested under the Access to Information Act through the government's online ATIP portal for a $5 application fee; you can also request your own personal information (free) under the Privacy Act. Provinces run parallel FOI processes for provincial and municipal records. It is slower than a database search — but it reaches records nothing else can.