Unclaimed bank balances

This page provides important information related to unclaimed bank balances year-end activities and reporting.

Financial institutions obligations

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 that have been inactive for 10 years to the Bank of Canada’s Unclaimed Properties Office (UPO) at the end of each year.

Prior to these bank balances reaching 10 years of inactivity, federally regulated banks and trust companies have a legal obligation to send a dormancy notice to balance holders following two-year, five-year and nine-year periods of inactivity. This notice must be sent by mail and by email if both forms of contact information are available. Refer to the Dormancy Notice Guidelines to help you communicate to customers and help them respond properly to these notices of inactivity.

Financial institutions year-end activities

At the end of each year, financial institutions (FIs) and trust companies are granted access to the UPO FI Reporting Tool to complete the following transactions:

  1. Submit FI Report
  2. Remit funds by Lynx or Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT)
  3. Upload Signature Cards

As of 2023, new legislative amendments require FIs to transfer the account holder’s SIN, Date of Birth and email addresses when available. FIs can also include Foreign Denominated Accounts in the transfer of properties to UPO.

Refer to the FI Reporting Guide for step by step instructions, detailed data specifications and XML schema definition.

Submitting the FI Report and remitting payment
  1. Include the following information when submitting the FI Report:
    • Report Type
    • Report Year
    • Zero Dollar Report (Y or N) *
    • Total Dollar Amount
    • Lynx or EFT

    * If you have no unclaimed bank balances properties or funds to submit in the reported year, you must still report this by indicating that you have a Zero Dollar Report.

  2. Upload the FI Report (data file) to the website.
  3. Apply electronic signature and submit FI Report.
  4. Remit funds by Lynx or EFT to the Bank of Canada on the same day the FI Report is submitted.
Uploading signature cards at year-end

As of 2023, financial institutions are also required to submit signature cards associated with unclaimed properties submitted in a reported year.

  1. Follow the link from FI Report confirmation email to the Signature Card Upload platform using a unique username and password.
  2. Complete Multi-Factor Authentication.
  3. Upload signature card files to platform.
Year-end reporting timeline

Exact year-end reporting dates are communicated directly to financial institutions.



Ad-hoc signature card request process

In accordance with Section 438 (2.1) of the Bank Act, financial institutions and trust companies are required to provide copies of signature cards relating to unclaimed properties as part of the year-end activities. In addition, financial institutions may also receive ad-hoc requests from the Unclaimed Properties Office to provide copies of signature cards for claims related to balances prior to 2023.

To fulfill these ad-hoc signature card requests, FIs can Upload FI Documentation by entering the Claim ID provided in the request.

Refer to the Ad-hoc signature card request process for more details.

FI claim process - reclaim or guarantee

Financial institutions and trust companies must use the Search for Unclaimed Property tool to initiate a claim transaction when:

  • Reclaim balances are submitted to the Unclaimed Properties Office with incorrect data or in other circumstances for which the funds must be returned to the financial institution (FI Reclaim), or
  • Funds are claimed on behalf of the property owner or their legal representative and are made payable to the property owner, in care of the financial institution (FI Guarantee).

Refer to the FI Reclaim or FI Guarantee Guidelines for more details.

If you require more information, Contact Us.