Unclaimed Bank Balances in Canada: Search and Claim from the Bank of Canada

The Bank of Canada's Unclaimed Properties Office (UPO) says an unclaimed bank balance is an account, deposit or negotiable instrument held or issued by a federally regulated bank or trust company, in Canadian or foreign currency. The UPO’s online search for unclaimed bank balances is at unclaimedproperties.bankofcanada.ca. The Bank of Canada says the total value of unclaimed bank balances as at December 31, 2025 was $1.60B (billion). Searching and claiming come first below; how a balance reaches the Bank of Canada, what it holds and for how long, and the provincial programs follow.

How do you search the Bank of Canada’s unclaimed balances?

• The UPO says to type a last name or business name, or an account number, and click search; if there is a long list of results you may refine the search by entering a city, province or first name, but the search shows only results that match all fields entered, so it recommends starting with just a last name or account number.

The UPO’s toll-free line is 1 833 876-2267 (from outside North America, 1 613 782-7911), Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (ET). The UPO says not to send or include any personal identifiable information by email, and that personal and sensitive information should only be shared by mail or through the secure online tool to upload claim documentation when submitting a claim for an unclaimed bank balance.

How do you claim a balance?

What the UPO says about who can claim and how a claim works:

• The UPO says it does not charge a fee for processing a claim, though there may be costs associated with proving entitlement to the funds, such as the notarization of claim documents.
• The UPO says a claimant is a living account owner or the authorized representative (such as a Power of Attorney or the Public Guardian and Trustee), an heir or beneficiary to an estate with no will, an executor, administrator or liquidator for an estate with a will, or a signing officer for a business or corporation.
• The UPO says that after you submit an online claim request you will receive an email within approximately one hour with an attached claim form, that the list of required documentation is outlined on the claim form, and that some requirements may not be listed on the form and it will inform you by email if more documentation is needed.
• The UPO says every claimant must provide two pieces of identification, at least one with a photo and at least one displaying the claimant's current address (it accepts a piece of mail issued by a federal, provincial/territorial or municipal entity), that all documentation must be in English or French, and that foreign documentation must be translated by a certified translator and certified by a notary public.
• The UPO lists examples of documents that can show proof of entitlement: for an account, a copy of the passbook, a bank statement, a void cheque or a letter from the bank showing the account number of the original dormant account; for a deposit, an investment statement, a GIC certificate, a term deposit copy, a deposit receipt or a credit card statement showing the account number; for an instrument such as a bank draft, the purchaser can use the original instrument or a copy showing the instrument number or a statement showing the purchase, and the payee the original instrument. It says these are examples and other documents may also be accepted.
• The UPO says documentation can be uploaded online through its secure portal, and that if the value of a claim exceeds $5,000 the documentation must be mailed to the Bank of Canada Unclaimed Properties Office in Ottawa.
• The UPO says that if it does not receive the requested documentation within 12 months from the date of the email with the claim form, the claim request will be closed.
• The UPO says the average processing time for an unclaimed bank balance is 120 days, depending on the time of year, the complexity of the claim and how fully the claimant has completed the claim package.

The UPO’s mailing address is Bank of Canada Unclaimed Properties Office, 234 Wellington Street, Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0G9. The UPO says it does not offer in-person services or accept hand-delivered documentation.

Claiming for someone who has died

Who can claim for an estate is in the UPO’s list above; the claim form it emails lists the documents it needs for one. What happens to a joint account when one owner dies, and the bank’s steps after a death, are on joint bank accounts and after a death.

What does the Bank of Canada hold, and what doesn’t it?

• The UPO lists as held by it chequing accounts, savings accounts, positive credit card balances, term deposits, guaranteed investment certificates (GICs), deposit receipts, bank drafts, certified cheques, money orders, official cheques and traveller's cheques.
• The UPO lists as not held by it RRSP and RRIF accounts (except the Canada RSP and the Canada RIF plans), TFSA accounts, life insurance policies, non-federally regulated credit union and caisses populaires balances, balances at utilities and other companies, gold or silver certificates, safety deposit boxes, stocks (equity shares) and dividends, land and livestock, and gift certificates.
• The UPO says that as of December 2023 foreign denominated accounts are held by it, and are transferred from financial institutions in Canadian currency.

A non-federally regulated credit union’s balance is on the not-held list; the provincial programs below say in their own words what each holds.

How does a bank balance become unclaimed?

The Bank Act sets the test and the yearly transfer, and the UPO describes both in its own words:

• Under the Bank Act, a deposit made in Canada and payable in Canada on which no transaction has taken place and no statement of account has been requested or acknowledged by the creditor for 10 years (counted from the end of the fixed period for a fixed-period deposit, and otherwise from the later of the last transaction or the last time a statement was requested or acknowledged) is an unclaimed balance that the bank must pay to the Bank of Canada.
• The same section covers a cheque, draft or bill of exchange payable in Canada that has been issued, certified or accepted by a bank in Canada and on which no payment has been made for 10 years after the date of issue, certification, acceptance or maturity, whichever is later.
• The bank must pay the Bank of Canada, not later than December 31 in each year, an amount equal to the principal amount of the deposit or instrument plus interest, if any, calculated in accordance with its terms, and the payment discharges the bank from all liability for it.
• An authorized foreign bank has a matching duty in the Act: the same 10-year test, and a payment to the Bank of Canada not later than December 31 in each year.
• The UPO says balances are considered unclaimed properties and are transferred to it when they have been inactive for 10 years with the financial institution or trust company and the owner cannot be contacted, or the owner has been contacted but took no action to reclaim the funds, and that these properties are transferred once a year between mid-November and December.
• The UPO says that, per the Bank Act and the Trust and Loan Companies Act, federally regulated banks and trust companies must transfer all accounts, deposits and negotiable instruments inactive for 10 years to it at the end of each year, and that the dormancy notice must be sent by mail and by email if both forms of contact information are available.

The notices a bank sends first

The Act’s notice rules come first, then the UPO’s description of them:

• A bank must send, by mail and by electronic means, to each person to whom the deposit is payable or at whose request the instrument was issued, certified or accepted, at their recorded address and electronic address in so far as the bank knows them, a notice stating that the deposit or instrument remains unpaid.
• The notice must be sent during the month of January next following the end of the first two-year period, the first five-year period and the first nine-year period of inactivity (for a fixed-period deposit, counted from the end of the fixed period).
• The notice sent in January after the first nine-year period must also include the mailing address and websites where information can be obtained on how to claim the unpaid deposit or instrument.
• The UPO says federally regulated banks and trust companies have a legal obligation to send a written notification to balance holders after two, five and nine years of inactivity, and that balance holders are not automatically notified when funds are transferred to the Bank of Canada.

How long does the Bank of Canada keep it, and does it earn interest?

The UPO states how long it holds a balance, and the Bank of Canada Act states when the Bank is no longer liable for one; each is below in its own terms:

• Where a payment has been made to the Bank of Canada and the person who would be entitled to the deposit or instrument demands payment, or presents the instrument, at the Bank of Canada, the Bank is liable to pay an amount equal to the amount it received together with interest, if interest was payable under the terms of the deposit or instrument, for a period not exceeding ten years from the day the Bank received the payment, at a rate the Minister determines (subject to section 22 of the Bank of Canada Act).
• Under section 22 of the Bank of Canada Act, the Bank is not liable for an unpaid debt paid to it by a federal financial institution if the amount paid to the Bank was less than $1,000 and at least 40 years have gone by since the later of the last transaction on the institution's books and the last time a statement of account was requested or acknowledged by the former creditor.
• The Bank is also not liable for such a debt, instrument, claim or returned payment if the amount paid to the Bank was $1,000 or more and at least 100 years have gone by since the payment was made to the Bank.
• The UPO says interest is paid for the first 10 years of custody on balances that were transferred to it as an interest-bearing savings account, and that all other deposits and instruments earn no interest.
• The UPO says it holds unclaimed bank balances of less than $1,000 for 30 years and balances of $1,000 or more for 100 years, and that properties still unclaimed at the end of the retention period are transferred to the Receiver General for Canada.

How much money is unclaimed?

The Bank of Canada says the total number of unclaimed bank balances as at December 31, 2025 was 3.6M (million). Dividing the total value in the opening lines by this count gives about $444 per balance as at December 31, 2025. The Bank of Canada says the total value of claims paid in 2025 was $20.0M (million) and the total number of claims paid in 2025 was 1,937.

What about provincial unclaimed property programs?

• The UPO says the provinces of Quebec, Alberta and British Columbia also have searchable unclaimed property registries for properties held under provincial jurisdiction.
• The UPO's resources page for claimants lists links to Revenu Québec - Unclaimed Property, the BC Unclaimed Property Society, Alberta - Unclaimed Property and New Brunswick - Unclaimed Property.

The programs on the UPO’s resources page describe themselves as follows (the second BC statement is Consumer Protection BC’s):

• Revenu Québec - Unclaimed Property. Revenu Québec says its register of unclaimed property can be consulted free of charge to check whether you have rights to an unclaimed succession, own financial assets that have been left inactive in a financial institution in Québec, or have a right to any other property administered by the Minister of Revenue. Revenu Québec says to contact the Bank of Canada for any search concerning an unclaimed balance in an account in a financial institution or a deposit with a federally chartered trust corporation, and that the Minister of Revenue does not have jurisdiction over such property.
• BC Unclaimed Property Society. BC Unclaimed says it keeps unclaimed money until it finds the rightful owner, and that the money is left behind in places like credit union accounts, estates and courts. Consumer Protection BC says that in BC unclaimed property only refers to money (not physical property like land, buildings, vehicles or other personal possessions), that it does not include money from dormant bank accounts because banks are federally regulated, and that the Bank of Canada's unclaimed property office manages those; it also says it does not have legal oversight of unclaimed money.
• Alberta unclaimed property. Alberta says the Alberta government maintains a central registry of property that is unclaimed and has been presumed abandoned by its owner, and that holders must report and transfer it to Alberta Treasury Board and Finance, Tax and Revenue Administration (TRA). Alberta says there is no charge to submit a claim, though you may be required to pay a fee for the administration costs of the property; that claims must be submitted within 10 years from the date the property was received by TRA; and that all claims are reviewed within 120 days of receipt, with additional time if other documentation is required.
• FundsFinderNB. The Financial and Consumer Services Commission of New Brunswick says it operates FundsFinderNB, New Brunswick's unclaimed property program, governed by the Unclaimed Property Act. FCNB says monetary property is generally considered unclaimed when there has been no activity on the funds for at least three years, or 10 years for credit union accounts, and that it is free to search and claim your property.

How do you tell a real offer of help from a scam?

The Bank of Canada says it does not request the transfer of funds or payments from individuals and does not collect personal or financial information from individuals through email or by telephone.

• The UPO says a third-party representative, such as a lawyer, who has obtained authorization must include a signed Third-Party Authorization Form with the claim, that claimants are not required to authorize a third party, and that there is no fee associated with searching for and initiating a property claim.
• The UPO says some firms may use content from its website or other publicly available information as part of paid services to find claimants, and that the Bank of Canada does not endorse such firms or have a business relationship with them.

Alberta says that if you use the assistance of a person or agency to locate your property you should have the arrangement in writing, and that the locator fee in Alberta cannot be greater than 10% of the value of the property. FCNB says real government officials do not charge for you to search for or claim forgotten money, that while third-party finders are legal there are limits to the compensation they can receive, and that you can always search and claim your funds for free directly on FundsFinderNB. Scams in general are covered on bank fraud and scams.

Other unclaimed money

Uncashed CRA cheques and payments are covered on unclaimed CRA money; Canada Savings Bonds on what happened to Canada Savings Bonds.

Related pages

• Closing a bank account
• Joint bank accounts
• Opening a bank account
• Bank fraud and scams
• Disputing a charge and complaining about your bank
• Unclaimed CRA money
• Protecting your money
• Banking