What is a Canadian corporation number?
A Canadian corporation number is the Corporations Canada identifier for a federal corporation record. A Canadian business number, or BN, is a separate Canada Revenue Agency identifier for tax and program accounts. Federal corporation records may include both, so check which number matches the filing or lookup task.
- Source file
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- Published
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- Retrieved
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- Data as of
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Full name: Corporations Canada Corporation Number and CRA Business Number
Short explanation
Corporations Canada assigns corporation numbers to federal corporation records. The Canada Revenue Agency assigns business numbers for tax and program-account administration. A federal corporation record may carry a corporation number and a BN, but they answer different questions: the corporation number identifies the federal corporate record, while the BN identifies the business for CRA and other program-account purposes.
Related platform: Entity graph - resolved organization records
How it’s used
- Federal corporation lookup: Corporations Canada lets users search federal corporations by name, corporation number, or business number.
- Open Canada bulk records: federal corporation files include corporation number, business number, corporate name, legislation, status, and address fields.
- Fonteum stores corporation number and BN separately so corporate-registration facts and tax/program-account facts remain traceable to their source.
Frequently asked questions
- Is a Canadian corporation number the same as a business number?
- No. The corporation number identifies the federal corporation record. The business number is assigned by CRA for tax and program accounts.
- How many digits are in a Canadian business number?
- A BN starts with a nine-digit registration number and can include a six-character program-account identifier.
- Where can you look up a federal Canadian corporation?
- Use Corporations Canada's federal corporation search by name, corporation number, or business number.
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