Certificate names and effects vary by jurisdiction. Ask the recipient which document and issue date it accepts, then order it from the corporation’s official registry. An independent search result is not an official certificate.
Distinguish the federal documents
A federal certificate of compliance addresses existence plus specified filing and fee requirements. A certificate of existence addresses existence at a requested date or period; it does not confirm annual filings and paid fees in the same way.
A certificate of incorporation records formation and serves a different purpose. Sending that older document may not satisfy a request for current status. Provincial products may use different names, so do not assume an exact equivalent.
Order once you know the requirements
Prepare the legal name, identifier, recipient instructions and any historical period needed. Confirm the current fee and delivery channel on the official service page before ordering.
Save the original document and verify that the name, identifier and requested period match. If a request is refused, review the authority’s reason; buying the same product through an intermediary does not resolve an underlying filing issue.
Distinguish the issue date from the period being certified
A historical question and a recent-document requirement are different instructions. Federal certificates are dated when issued and cannot be backdated. A Certificate of Existence can nevertheless address a specified historical date or period. State both requirements in your request instead of asking the registry to issue a certificate ‘dated last year’.
Where the corporation changed its name, federal existence guidance says the certificate indicates its current name even if a different name was used during part of the requested period. Match the corporation identifier and keep any relevant name-history evidence with the certificate rather than rejecting it solely because an older contract uses the former name.
Check the issuer when similar document names appear
In Québec, a certificat d’attestation from the enterprise register is distinct from an Attestation de Revenu Québec. Before ordering, compare the issuing authority named in the recipient’s instructions. Québec also provides an official certification-number verification service for specified registry certificates; use the link supplied by the government rather than relying on the appearance of a PDF.
Example
Illustrative example: a lender asks about an earlier contract
A lender wants evidence that a federal corporation existed when it signed a contract, plus a document issued recently. Ask the lender to confirm the acceptable product and historical period. The resulting certificate may have today’s issue date while describing that earlier period. Check both dates and the identifier; the certificate does not by itself assess the contract or the borrower’s financial health.
Sources and review
Content updated October 30, 2026. Source checked October 30, 2026. Examples illustrate the process; they do not describe a real corporation.