Guides and How-tos

How to locate your Business Number without CRA registration

February 9, 2026 Comments Off on How to locate your Business Number without CRA registration

Many founders run into this issue early on:
You’re asked for your Business Number (BN), by a bank, platform, grant, payment processor, or advisor, but you’ve never registered with the CRA, or you don’t remember doing so.

The good news is: If your business is incorporated in Ontario, you may already have a Business Number, even if you’ve never interacted with the CRA directly. This guide walks you through how to locate your Business Number using the Ontario Business Registry, step by step.

1. Before You Start: What You’ll Need

To follow this process, make sure you have:

  1. Your legal company name (exactly as incorporated)

  2. Access to the email address used at incorporation

  3. Your company key:

    • This is issued automatically when your company is incorporated

    • It’s usually included in incorporation emails or documents from ServiceOntario

Note: If you don’t have your Company Key, you’ll need to recover it before continuing.

2. Navigate to: Ontario Business Registry

🔗 Ontario Business Registry

This is the official portal where Ontario-incorporated businesses managefilings, updates, and records.

4. Click "Sign in to My Ontario Account"

5. Click "Create/Sign into My Ontario Account"

6. Click "Sign In"

Sign in if you already have an account, or go to the next step

7. Create My Ontario Account

  • Click Create / Sign into My Ontario Account. Use the same email address associated with your company, if possible.
  • Once logged in, you’ll be taken to your account dashboard.

8. Look up company name

If you have not signed in before, this is where you look up you official company name.

9. Click on the company name then go to Account Homepage.

10. Enter company key

You will be prompted to enter your company key here.

(This is issued automatically when your company is incorporated. It’s usually included in incorporation emails or documents from ServiceOntario)

11. Click "Go to account homepage"

12. Click "Ontario business registry - Company Name."

13. Find your Business Number (9 digit number)

You will see a 15 digit number on this page. The first 9 digits of this will be your business number.

Note this down and save it for easier access.