Canadian PPSA Searches: The Complete Guide
Who they're for, what they are, what's included, when you need one, why they're important, and how to get one from any of Canada's 12 provincial and territorial PPSA registries, plus Quebec's RDPRM.
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This comprehensive guide covers everything you need to know about Canadian PPSA searches: who they're for, what they are, what information they contain, when you might need one, and how to get one quickly.
Whether you're extending secured credit, underwriting a loan, or running due diligence on a business acquisition, this guide will answer any questions you might have about PPSA searches in Canada.
How to get a Canadian PPSA search
There are a few different ways to get a PPSA search in Canada. However, the fastest and most consistent way is using Current. Enter the business debtor's legal name, plus the jurisdiction if you know it, then pay $40 CAD by credit card, and the PPSA search report will be delivered to your inbox, typically within one business day. Each report is sourced directly from the relevant personal property registry. No account or sign-up required, even in jurisdictions that would otherwise require one.
What is a Canadian PPSA search?
A PPSA search is a business debtor search: it checks a province or territory's personal property registry for registered financing statements, public notices that a creditor has a security interest in a specific business debtor's personal property. Canada has 12 provinces and territories operating under the Personal Property Security Act, plus Quebec, which uses its own civil-law equivalent: the RDPRM (Register of Personal and Movable Real Rights).
The search shows what's registered against the debtor, not what the debtor claims about their own assets. This is what makes it the standard check before buying an asset, extending secured credit, or evaluating a business's existing debt load.
What's included in a PPSA search?
A PPSA search report includes every registered financing statement matching the business debtor name searched, sourced directly from the official personal property registry.
Who uses Canadian PPSA searches?
PPSA searches are used across industries whenever someone needs to confirm whether personal property has a registered security interest against it.
Lenders and secured finance teams
Confirm collateral is free of prior registered claims (or understand priority against them) before advancing secured credit.
Lawyers and law firms
Used to confirm registered security interests before asset purchases, business acquisitions, financings, and litigation matters close.
Equipment and inventory buyers
Search the seller's business name before buying, to confirm the asset isn't security for someone else's loan.
M&A and asset-purchase teams
Surface a target business's existing secured debt against its equipment, inventory, and receivables during due diligence.
Equipment lessors and financiers
Register and verify security interests in leased equipment to protect priority against the lessee's other creditors.
Compliance and KYB teams
Incorporate registered lien status into business identity and risk verification alongside corporate registry data.
Debt collection and recovery
Determine what's registered against a debtor's assets, and where a given creditor ranks, before pursuing enforcement.
Insolvency and restructuring professionals
Map the full set of registered secured creditors against a company's assets as part of insolvency proceedings or workouts.
PPSA searches vs. other official business documents
PPSA searches are often confused with other types of official business and asset documents. Here is how they compare.
| Document | Source | What it shows | Use case |
|---|---|---|---|
| PPSA Search | Provincial/territorial registry | Registered security interests against a business debtor's assets | Asset purchases, secured lending, KYB |
| Corporate Profile Report | Government registry | Legal status, active directors, registered address: current registry standing | Verification, KYB, due diligence |
| Certificate of Good Standing | Government registry | Formal confirmation a corporation is active and in good standing | Cross-border transactions, financing |
| Land Title / Real Property Search | Provincial land registry | Ownership and registered charges (mortgages) against real estate | Real estate transactions, not covered by a PPSA search |
| Business Credit Report | Credit bureau (Equifax, D&B) | Payment history, trade lines, credit score | Credit risk assessment, lending decisions |
When do you need a Canadian PPSA search?
Before buying business equipment or inventory
Confirm the seller doesn't have an outstanding loan secured against the equipment or inventory you're buying. Buying an asset with an undischarged security interest can leave you liable to the secured creditor, even if you paid the seller in full.
Before extending secured credit
Check whether the collateral a borrower is offering already has a prior registered claim against it. Lending priority in Canada generally follows registration order. A later-registered lender can be left with no recourse if an earlier interest already covers the same collateral.
During an asset purchase or business acquisition
Search the target business's name to surface any registered security interests against its equipment, inventory, or accounts receivable: debt that might not otherwise be disclosed during diligence, and that could follow the assets to the buyer if not properly discharged.
For KYB, secured lending, and asset-based finance workflows
For lenders and finance teams underwriting secured loans, confirming the registered status of collateral is a standard step before advancing funds, required to establish priority and assess whether the offered security is actually available.
During litigation or asset recovery
Determine what security interests exist against a debtor's assets before pursuing collection or enforcement, and understand where a given creditor ranks relative to others with a registered claim on the same property.
Before leasing high-value equipment
Lessors of high-value equipment often register their interest under the PPSA to protect against the lessee's other creditors. Checking the registry before leasing out equipment (or before accepting leased equipment as your own collateral) clarifies who actually has a claim on it.
Why PPSA verification matters
Skipping a PPSA search is one of the most common (and avoidable) mistakes in asset purchases and secured lending. A search takes minutes. The consequences of not running one can follow the asset for years.
Buying an asset doesn't erase a prior security interest
A registered security interest generally survives a private sale of the collateral. If you buy equipment or inventory with an undischarged registration against it, the secured creditor may still have a claim, even though you paid the seller in full.
Lending priority is largely determined by registration order
If you extend secured credit without checking for prior registrations, you risk ranking behind an earlier secured creditor with a claim on the same collateral, meaning you could be left with little or nothing if the borrower defaults.
Undisclosed secured debt in business acquisitions
A target business's equipment, inventory, or receivables may already secure existing loans that aren't obvious from its financial statements alone. A PPSA search against the business name surfaces registrations that might otherwise go unnoticed until after closing.
Regulatory and KYB compliance gaps
For regulated lenders and finance teams, failing to check registered security interests before advancing secured credit is a documented gap in due diligence, one regulators and auditors expect to see addressed with evidence of a search.
PPSA searches for KYB, secured lending, and risk teams
For lending, compliance, and risk operations teams, PPSA searches are not a one-off check. They're a recurring step in underwriting secured credit and evaluating counterparty risk. Confirming what's already registered against a borrower's or counterparty's assets is foundational to establishing lending priority and understanding existing leverage.
Collateral verification before advancing secured credit
A PPSA search confirms whether the collateral a borrower is offering already has a registered claim against it: the core check required before a lender can rely on that collateral for priority.
Periodic re-verification for revolving or asset-based lending
For asset-based lending facilities secured against inventory or receivables, re-running a PPSA search on a scheduled cadence catches new registrations that could affect the lender's priority position over time.
Combining PPSA and corporate registry data
Registered security interests and corporate standing answer different questions but are often reviewed together. A business can be active and in good standing while still carrying significant registered secured debt against its assets.
Law firms and legal due diligence
Law firms use PPSA searches to confirm registered security interests before financings, asset purchases, and business acquisitions close, and to build the documentary record for the transaction file.
Small lending and compliance teams
For teams that don't need a full enterprise platform, Current provides individual-search access with no account or subscription required, a practical option whether you're running one search a month or fifty.
Canada's 13 PPSA jurisdictions
Canada has 12 provinces and territories operating personal property registries under the Personal Property Security Act, plus Quebec, which uses its own civil-law equivalent: the RDPRM. Current provides access to all of them in one centralized platform, so you don't need to navigate a different government portal, registry agent, or account system for each one.
Ontario
Ontario PPSA Registry
British Columbia
BC PPSA Registry
Alberta
Alberta PPSA Registry
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan PPSA Registry
Manitoba
Manitoba PPSA Registry
New Brunswick
New Brunswick PPSA Registry
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia PPSA Registry
Prince Edward Island
PEI PPSA Registry
Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador PPSA Registry
Northwest Territories
Northwest Territories PPSA Registry
Yukon
Yukon PPSA Registry
Nunavut
Nunavut PPSA Registry
Quebec
RDPRM (civil-law equivalent)
Can I get a PPSA search directly from the government?
It depends heavily on the jurisdiction, more so than with corporate registries. Only Ontario, Saskatchewan, and Quebec offer anything close to a direct, open online search, and even Ontario's access has real limited hours (closed Sundays). Alberta has no government self-serve portal at all. Access is only through registry agents. British Columbia restricts self-serve online search to registered professional accounts. And seven jurisdictions (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador, Northwest Territories, Yukon, and Nunavut) run through ACOL (Atlantic Canada Online), a shared gateway that requires setting up a client account.
Current provides a single, consistent access point for all 13 jurisdictions, so you get the same experience regardless of where the search needs to be run, without setting up an ACOL account, a professional account, or going through a registry agent.
How to get a Canadian PPSA search with Current
- 1
Submit search details
Enter the business's legal name, along with the jurisdiction (if known) and the email address you want the report delivered to.
- 2
Pay via secure checkout
Pay $40 CAD by credit card. No sign-up required.
- 3
Receive your report
Receive the PPSA search report by email, typically within one business day, sourced directly from the correct personal property registry.
Need more than a one-off search?
If you're pulling searches at volume or running due diligence, verification, and KYB workflows, we have tools built for that.
Key terms in a Canadian PPSA search
- Business debtor
- The business against whose personal property a security interest is registered. A PPSA search is fundamentally a business debtor search: you search by the business's exact legal name to find every financing statement registered against it.
- Financing statement
- The registration a secured party files to give public notice of a security interest. It includes the debtor's name, the secured party's name, a description of the collateral, and the registration and expiry dates. This is what a PPSA search actually finds.
- Secured party
- The creditor who holds a registered security interest in the debtor's personal property, typically a lender, but can also be a vendor, lessor, or other party owed an obligation secured by that property.
- Collateral: specific vs. general
- Specific collateral describes a particular asset by serial number, such as a piece of equipment. General collateral describes a broader category, such as 'all present and after-acquired equipment and inventory,' without listing individual items.
- Discharge
- The registration filed once a debt secured by a financing statement is paid off, removing the registered security interest from the record. An undischarged registration on a paid-off loan is a common source of confusion in used-asset sales.
- Priority
- When more than one secured party has a registered interest in the same collateral, priority determines which creditor gets paid first if the debtor defaults. Priority generally follows registration order. The earliest-registered interest usually ranks first, with some statutory exceptions such as purchase-money security interests (PMSIs).
Canadian PPSA search: frequently asked questions
PPSA searches are $40 CAD per search through Current, with disbursement fees included. No account or subscription is required. Pay by credit card and receive your report by email.
Reports are delivered to your inbox, typically within one business day, including in jurisdictions where a direct search would otherwise require an ACOL account, a registry agent, or fall outside limited business hours.
No. Search by business name, and Current can help you find where a registration is filed. If you already know the jurisdiction, ordering directly from that jurisdiction's page is faster.
No result found for a debtor or business name generally means there's no registered security interest against that exact name in that jurisdiction. Small variations in legal name, or registrations filed in a different province, are the most common reasons a search comes back empty when one is expected.
No. Current's purchase flow requires no sign-up, even in jurisdictions where a direct government search would require setting up your own account, such as an ACOL client account or a BC professional account.
No. PPSA registries are public. Anyone can search for registered security interests against a business. You don't need a business relationship or legal interest in the outcome.
A financing statement is the registration a secured party files to give public notice of a security interest. It's the record a PPSA search actually finds. It includes the debtor's name, the secured party's name, a description of the collateral, and the registration and expiry dates.
It's best to use the exact legal business name on file. A trade name or 'doing business as' name may not match the registered legal name, which can cause a search to miss an existing registration.
A PPSA search checks for registered security interests (liens) against a business. A corporate profile report confirms whether a business is legally incorporated, in good standing, and who its current directors are. They answer different questions and are often ordered together during due diligence. See our guide to Canadian corporate profile reports.
No. A PPSA search is a government registry record showing registered security interests. A business credit report is a commercial product from a credit bureau (like Equifax or Dun & Bradstreet) showing payment history and a credit score. For confirming registered liens, use a PPSA search; for credit risk assessment, use a credit report.
No. PPSA searches only cover personal property: movable assets like equipment, inventory, and accounts receivable. Real estate and land are recorded in a separate land title or land registry system in every Canadian jurisdiction.
A PPSA search reflects registrations on file at the moment the search is run. Because new registrations can be filed the same day, a search is a point-in-time snapshot, not a guarantee that no new registration will appear afterward.
For lenders, a PPSA search confirms whether an asset offered as collateral already has a prior registered claim against it, which is critical for establishing lending priority before advancing funds. For compliance and asset-purchase due diligence, a PPSA search on a target business's assets surfaces existing secured debt that might not otherwise be disclosed.
Access. Only 3 of the 13 Canadian jurisdictions (Ontario, Saskatchewan, and Quebec) offer anything close to an open, direct online search. Alberta has no public portal at all; search only through registry agents. British Columbia restricts self-serve online search to registered professional accounts. And 7 jurisdictions run through ACOL (Atlantic Canada Online), a shared gateway that requires a client account. Current provides one consistent, no-account-required access point across all of them.
Quebec doesn't operate under the Personal Property Security Act. It uses its own civil-law system, the Register of Personal and Movable Real Rights (RDPRM), to register hypothecs and other rights over movable property. An RDPRM search serves the same practical purpose as a PPSA search in the other 12 jurisdictions, just under a different legal framework.
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