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unclaimed money in canada

there's billions of dollars sitting in canada with someone's name on it. old bank accounts, cheques that never got cashed, forgotten pensions. all of it is free to search and free to claim. here's every place i know to look.

class action settlements you can still claim

$1,878,270,000

in uncashed CRA cheques across 10,833,150 cheques (as of July 2026)

$1.6 billion

in unclaimed bank balances at the Bank of Canada across 3.6 million balances (as of Dec 31, 2025)

free

to search and claim every single one of these

start here (federal)

CRA uncashed cheques

Tax refunds, benefit payments and other government cheques you never cashed. Government cheques never expire, so old ones are still good. Log in to CRA My Account and look under related services for uncashed cheques. Not registered? Call 1-800-959-8281.

open CRA My Account ↗

Bank of Canada unclaimed balances

Forgotten chequing and savings accounts, estates, credit balances, and RRSP / RIF amounts from federally regulated banks and trust companies after they've been inactive for 10+ years. Search by last name, business name, city, province or account number.

search bank balances ↗

old Canada Savings Bonds

Matured bonds can't be found with the balance search; they have to be redeemed through a financial institution. The Bank of Canada has a how-to.

how to redeem bonds ↗

resp grants — free money for the kids

these aren't lost accounts — they're government grants that only land if someone opens an RESP and asks for them. a lot of people never do. all three below are free to claim.

Canada Learning Bond

Up to $2,000 of free money the government puts into an RESP for eligible kids born in 2004 or later — no contributions required, ever. It's based on family income, it's retroactive to the year the kid was born, and billions of it has never been claimed. Just open an RESP and ask for it. A young person can claim it for themselves until the day before they turn 21.

check the learning bond ↗

Canada Education Savings Grant (CESG)

The government adds 20 cents for every dollar you put into a kid's RESP, up to $500 a year and $7,200 lifetime. Lower and middle-income families can get up to another $100 a year. You do have to contribute to get it, and missed years can be caught up later. Available until the end of the year the kid turns 17.

CESG details ↗

provincial top-ups (BC and Québec)

BC's Training and Education Savings Grant puts $1,200 into an eligible BC kid's RESP with no contribution needed — you just have to apply between their 6th and 9th birthday. Québec's QESI matches 10% of RESP contributions. Some of this money only shows up if you ask for it.

BC $1,200 grant ↗Québec and BC top-ups ↗

provincial registries

these hold dormant credit union accounts, estates, uncashed cheques, security deposits and similar. search every province you've ever lived in.

British Columbia — BC Unclaimed

Non-profit run with a mandate from the province. Search, then create an account and upload documents to claim.

search BC ↗

Alberta — Unclaimed Property

Money $250+ and valuables $1,000+ held by Alberta Treasury Board and Finance. No charge to submit a claim, and you have 10 years from when the province received it.

search Alberta ↗

Quebec — Revenu Québec register

Searchable register of property when the owner can't be found. Heirs and liquidators can claim too.

search Quebec ↗

New Brunswick — FundsFinderNB

Credit union accounts, uncashed cheques and security deposits. Free to search and claim.

search New Brunswick ↗

other places money hides

old pensions

Worked somewhere years ago that had a pension? Starting January 1, 2027, the Bank of Canada starts taking in unclaimed money from wound-up federally regulated pension plans (think banks, airlines, phone/telecom companies and trucking across provinces), so check the bank balances search above again in the new year. In Ontario you can also search FSRA's pension plan records; have a pension statement, T4 or T4A handy (or call 416-250-7250 / 1-800-668-0128). Everywhere else, contact your provincial pension regulator and they can tell you where the money is.

FSRA pension records (Ontario) ↗

lost life insurance policies

OmbudService for Life & Health Insurance is a free, independent service that can search for a lost policy across nearly all Canadian life insurers.

open OLHI ↗

old shares and dividends

Computershare and CST both hold money and shares for former shareholders and customers.

Computershare ↗CST ↗

class action money you can still claim

when a company (or the government) settles a class action, there's a pot of money for the people affected, but you have to file a claim yourself. only claim the ones you actually qualify for. i update this list every month.

there are more open settlements for specific groups and communities. see the full directory ↗

legit settlements never ask for your banking password or CRA login. always file on the official administrator's site.

before you start

01search every version of your name, including maiden names and nicknames
02search every province you've lived in, and check for family members who've passed (heirs and estates can claim)
03everything on this page is free. never pay anyone a “finder's fee” to claim it for you
04have ID and proof of ownership ready, most claims ask for it

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