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Name Search HelpName Search Criteria Name Search Help and Examples General InformationThe Insolvency Name Search database contains basic debtor information of all bankruptcies and proposals registered in Canada since 1978. In addition to this, it includes information about all receiverships registered with the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy (OSB) since January 1993. The database also contains information on all petitions that are known to our office.How do I gain access to the search facility?Access to the search facility is restricted to valid Strategis (Industry Canada) account holders.You may wish to take this time to set up your account. If you ever forget your password, please call Industry Canada toll-free at 1-800-328-6189 or if you live in the Ottawa region please dial 954-5031 for assistance. How much does it cost to search the database?There is a minimum charge of $8.00 for each search of the database. This charge also applies to searches that result in no records found. In the case of successful searches, a fee of $8.00 will be applied for each group of ten matches or less.(For example: If your search results in 28 matches then a charge of $8.00 will apply to view the first ten matches, an additional charge of $8.00 for the next ten and a final charge of $8.00 will apply if you decide to view the last group of eight matches.) Helpful hint: Although many of the search fields are optional, you can minimize your search costs by filling in as many of the fields as possible. This will narrow the range of possible results and cut the response time! Name Search Help and Examples How do I perform a search?In order to perform a search of the database you first have to supply some information to the search engine. To do this, simply enter the information in the fields located on the web page and press the Submit Search button found at the bottom. Here is a summary of each field:Note: The search engine is not case sensitive. Because of this, a query on "John Smith" will yield the same results as searching the database for "JOHN SMITH" or "john smith".
What if I'm not sure of the spelling?If you do not know the exact spelling of an estate name you may wish to use a Wildcard character. The OSB search engine supports two types of wildcards—the asterisk "*" and the underscore "_".Truncation and Wild Card Characters
Helpful hint: Wildcards are very powerful tools for performing complex searches. However, use them sparingly to decrease your costs and cut the response time! Name Search Help and Examples Frequently Asked Questions:In order to do a "National Bankruptcy Search", DO NOT put any "Province of Insolvency".Name Search - For IndividualsYou can put Lastname Givenname OR Givenname LastnameFor example: Joe Smith OR Smith Joe Do not use a single letter. For example: Smith J OR Joe S OR Smith Joe R For names with an apostrophe, type in the apostrophe. For example: O'Connor, Centre D'Hébergement For names with two last names you can search one or both last names. For example: Tremblay Marie, OR Smith Marie OR Tremblay Smith Marie For names with a hyphen, you can search with or without hyphen. For example: St-Louis OR St Louis If a Date of Birth is input, the system will give you every match of the name of your search, including entries without Date of Birth. This is due to the fact that Bankruptcies entered in the 1970's and 1980's don't have Date of Birth entered. Name Search - For Business/CorporationYou can type two words in the name of the company, and the systems will give you every business that filed bankruptcies with those words in the name.For Example: Entering (Bravo Pizza) will give (Bravo Restaurant and Pizza) If you use open and close quotations, the system will return every business that filed bankruptcy with those 3 exact words placed as you typed in quotes. For Example: Entering ("Bravo Pizza Restaurant") will give (Bravo Pizza Restaurant Inc.) For a Corporations Search, you can use only the number, but make sure you are putting a space if there is one in the number. For Example: 237 486 OR if no space 946821 Using WildCardsWhen using a wildcard (*), you must have at least two characters in the search expression.For Example: Correct Search:Smith Mo* Incorrect Search:Smith M* What if I need more help?If you need more help please contact us.We will be happy to assist you! Monique LeClair, Information Officer Telephone: (613) 941-9054 Fax: (613) 941-6176 E-mail: osb-bsf@ic.gc.ca |