How to Check for Unclaimed Money in Canada (Free, on Official Sites)

This page goes through the three main places step by step: the Bank of Canada, the CRA and the provincial registries.

Bank of Canada: unclaimed bank balances

The Bank of Canada runs the Unclaimed Properties Office. It keeps balances that federally regulated banks and trust companies could not return to their owners. A balance is sent there when it has had no activity for 10 years and the owner cannot be contacted, or was contacted and did not act. The transfer happens once a year, between mid-November and December.

Before that, the bank must send you written notices after 2, 5 and 9 years of inactivity. If you get one of those letters, call your bank: the money is still there and you do not need the Bank of Canada. Once the balance is transferred, nobody notifies you. You have to search.

What the Bank of Canada holds, and what it does not

Held by the Bank of Canada	Not held there
Chequing and savings accounts	Credit union and caisse populaire balances
Term deposits, GICs, deposit receipts, positive credit card balances	RRSP, RRIF and TFSA accounts (except the Canada RSP and Canada RIF)
Bank drafts, certified cheques, money orders, official cheques, traveller’s cheques	Life insurance policies, stocks and dividends, safety deposit boxes
Accounts in Canadian or foreign currency	Balances at utilities and other companies, gift certificates

For stocks and dividends, the Bank of Canada sends you to your province’s securities commission. For life insurance, contact the insurance company directly.

How to search and claim, step by step

1. Go to the official site, unclaimedproperties.bankofcanada.ca. Type the address yourself rather than following a link in a message.
2. Enter only your last name (or a business name, or an account number) and search. Add a first name, city or province only if there are too many results. The site only shows results that match everything you type, so less is better at first.
3. If you see a balance you believe is yours, click + Claim, then Continue.
4. Choose your relationship to the owner (the owner, an heir, an executor, a business) and fill in your contact details.
5. Within about an hour, you receive an email with a claim form and the list of documents needed. Check your spam folder.
6. Upload the signed form and the documents through the secure portal. If the claim is over $5,000, the documents go by mail.
7. Track the claim with the Claim ID on the form. The Bank says the average processing time is 120 days.

Searching and starting a claim are free. The only possible cost is on your side, for example having documents notarized when that is required. Balances that were transferred as interest-bearing savings accounts earn interest for the first 10 years at the Bank of Canada.

CRA: uncashed cheques

Tax refunds and benefit cheques that were never cashed stay with the Canada Revenue Agency. To check:

1. Sign in to My Account on canada.ca.
2. Select Uncashed cheques on the Overview page or the Accounts and payments page.
3. You will see personal cheques older than 6 months: tax refunds and most credits and benefits, including cheques issued to a person who has died.
4. To get a new payment, download the pre-filled form PWGSC 535 for each cheque, sign and date it by hand (the CRA does not accept electronic or stamped signatures) and send it through Submit documents in My Account, or by mail.
5. Check your direct deposit and mailing address first. Direct deposit is the fastest way to receive the money.

Without My Account, call 1-800-959-8281 for personal tax refunds or 1-800-387-1193 for credit and benefit payments. Business and trust cheques, and cheques less than 6 months old, are handled by phone. The form 535 is not available publicly: it only comes from your account or from the CRA by phone.

Provincial registries

Money that is not under federal rules, like credit union accounts, unpaid wages, rent deposits or estate funds, can be held by a province. The Bank of Canada lists four provincial programs. Each one is free to search:

Province	Program	Official site
Quebec	Register of Unclaimed Property, Revenu Quebec	revenuquebec.ca
Alberta	Unclaimed Property program, Tax and Revenue Administration	alberta.ca/unclaimed-property
British Columbia	BC Unclaimed (British Columbia Unclaimed Property Society)	bcunclaimed.ca
New Brunswick	FundsFinderNB, Financial and Consumer Services Commission	fundsfinder-mesfondsnb.ca
Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia, PEI, Newfoundland and Labrador, the territories	No general registry listed by the Bank of Canada	Contact the company, credit union or estate executor

• Quebec: you can claim a financial asset online in My Account for individuals if the register already links it to your name; otherwise use form BD-81.1-V. Heirs and liquidators use form BD-81.3-V.
• Alberta: the search also runs through MissingMoney.com, which covers Alberta and more than 40 other registries. After you file, you send proof of ownership with your confirmation number.
• British Columbia: BC Unclaimed holds money from courts, estates, insurance payments, credit union accounts, unpaid wages, real estate deposits and closed pension benefits. Court funds need a court order to be paid out.
• New Brunswick: new property keeps being added, so it is worth searching again from time to time.