This guide shows how the official claim search works, who can claim, what to send and the time limits that decide whether interest is still owed.

The short answer

Go to the Bank of Canada’s unclaimed property search, type a last name or business name, and narrow it with a first name, city or province. If a match is yours, submit a claim request online. The Unclaimed Properties Office then emails you a claim form listing the documents it needs. There is no fee, and the average claim takes 120 days.

The search covers bank balances only: accounts, deposits and negotiable instruments such as bank drafts. Savings bonds, the Canada RSP and RIF, and credit union accounts are handled elsewhere, as explained below.

What the Bank of Canada is holding

Section 438 of the Bank Act covers two kinds of property. The first is a deposit made and payable in Canada with no transaction, and no statement requested or acknowledged by the owner, for 10 years. For a fixed-term deposit such as a GIC, the 10 years run from the end of the term. If you still hold a GIC, our guide to cashing out a GIC early covers what happens at and before maturity.

The second is a cheque, draft or bill of exchange that a bank issued, certified or accepted, and that nobody has cashed 10 years after the later of its issue, certification, acceptance or maturity date. That is why an old bank draft or certified cheque in a drawer can end up here. Unlike a personal cheque, which our cheque hold guide covers, these are bank obligations, so the money sits with the bank until someone cashes them.

Each year, by December 31, the bank pays the principal plus any interest owed under the deposit’s terms to the Bank of Canada. That payment discharges the bank from all liability, so your claim is now with the Bank of Canada, not your old bank. A balance held in a foreign currency is converted to Canadian dollars before it is sent.

Federal trust and loan companies follow the same rule under section 424 of the Trust and Loan Companies Act. These federal rules cover banks and federal trust and loan companies. For a credit union or caisse account, see the provincial programs below.

The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC) says the Bank of Canada holds balances under $1,000 for 30 years and balances of $1,000 or more for 100 years.

How the claim search works

The search page says it is “designed to search for unclaimed bank balances (accounts, deposits, negotiable instruments).” It has two ways in:

• By name. Last name or business name is the only required field. First name, city and province are optional filters.
• By number. Enter an account or instrument number instead of a name. This helps if you have an old passbook, statement or the stub of a bank draft.

Three limits are worth knowing before you start. Properties with a balance under $2.00 are not searchable online. Canada Savings Bonds, Canada Premium Bonds, the Canada RSP, the Canada RIF and Government of Canada bonds are not searchable there. Provincial bonds are not searchable either.

Search tips that find more matches

The records come from the details your old bank had on file, which may not match how you write your name today. These habits catch more records:

• Start with the last name alone. Every filter you add can hide a record with a different first name spelling or an old city.
• Try every name you have used. Include a maiden name, a previous married name and common spelling variants.
• Search the city where you opened the account.
• Search for relatives who have died if you are handling their estate. Only someone entitled to the money can claim it.
• Search business names, including former names of a company you owned or ran.

Who can claim

The Unclaimed Properties Office (UPO) says you must be the claimant to submit a claim, and lists four kinds of claimant. Here is who files in each situation, and the extra paperwork its resources page names.

Source: Bank of Canada, Resources for claimants, reviewed November 2, 2026. The exact document list for your claim comes on the claim form the UPO emails you.

A Third-Party Authorization Form is not needed when the representative was appointed by power of attorney, court order or letters probate. In those cases, you send the legal document itself when the claim is started. Third-party claims sent without an authorization on file are closed automatically.

How to make a claim, step by step

1. Search and select. Find the properties you are entitled to in the claim search and select them.
2. Submit a claim request. Follow the online instructions. You must say whether the original owner is living, deceased or a business.
3. Watch your email. The UPO sends a claim form and the list of documents it needs.
4. Complete, sign and send. The resources page says the signed form and documents are submitted “online or by mail if the value of your claim is over $5,000.” Follow the method your claim form gives.
5. Do it within 12 months. If the documents do not arrive within 12 months of that email, the claim request is closed.
6. Track it. Check the status online with the Claim ID in the top right corner of your claim form.

The UPO says the average processing time is 120 days, depending on the time of year, how complex the claim is and how completely the package was filled in. Sending every document the claim form asks for, the first time, is the part you control.

A worked timeline: an account last used in July 2005

The dates matter because interest stops long before the money is gone. Here is how the federal rules play out for a hypothetical savings account last used on July 15, 2005, that paid interest.

Hypothetical. Notice dates follow Bank Act section 439(2). Later dates assume the Bank of Canada received the money in late 2015 and are approximate.

The highlighted row is the one most people miss. Under section 438(3), the Bank of Canada pays interest only if the deposit or instrument earned interest under its own terms. Even then, it pays for no more than 10 years from the day it received the money, at a rate the Minister sets. In this example, claiming in 2026 or in 2040 would pay the same amount. Waiting past the interest window costs you nothing more, but it gains you nothing either.

Why the bank’s warnings never reached you

Under section 439 of the Bank Act, your bank had to send notices by mail and by electronic means in the January after 2, 5 and 9 years of inactivity. The final notice must include a mailing address and websites for claiming the money. Those notices go to the address the bank had on file, so a move or a changed email can mean they never reached you. Our guide to dormant bank accounts covers the notices and the fees some banks charge before the transfer.

The bank also sends the Bank of Canada more than a name. Section 438(2) lists the owner’s date of birth and Social Insurance Number for individuals, the recorded address, the amount, and the branch and date of the last transaction. Banks must also provide copies of signature cards and signing authorities.

What this search will not find

Canada Savings Bonds and Canada Premium Bonds

The Bank of Canada says all Canada Savings Bonds and Canada Premium Bonds have matured and stopped earning interest. To redeem a paper bond, take the certificate to the financial institution where you bank or invest. All registered owners must sign, and only the registered owner, not the person who bought the bond, can get the money. If you lost the certificate, the UPO has a separate lost bond process.

Credit union and provincial property

If your old account was at a credit union or caisse, look beyond the Bank of Canada. The UPO’s resources page points to Revenu Québec’s unclaimed property service, the BC Unclaimed Property Society, and the unclaimed property programs in Alberta and New Brunswick.

A five-minute checklist

• Search your own name, every former name and every city you have lived in.
• Search for parents or grandparents whose estates you handle.
• Look for old bank drafts or certified cheques and search their numbers.
• Check provincial programs for credit union accounts.
• If you find a match, submit the claim request and send the documents within 12 months.
• Keep your Claim ID and check the status online.

For questions, the Bank of Canada’s general inquiries page directs anything about unclaimed bank balances to the Unclaimed Properties Office. If a balance comes back to you, our guide to CDIC deposit insurance explains how much of it is protected in your new account.

Frequently asked questions

• Sources, checked November 2, 2026: Bank of Canada Unclaimed Properties Office: Search for unclaimed property, Resources for claimants and Redeem your bonds; Bank Act, section 438 and section 439, Justice Laws, current to 2026-09-30; Trust and Loan Companies Act, section 424, current to 2026-09-30; FCAC: Unclaimed bank balances (modified 2026-10-23); Bank of Canada: General inquiries (modified 2026-10-14).
• Method: The timeline uses a hypothetical last transaction on July 15, 2005. Notice dates were counted by script under section 439(2), and the holding and interest dates add 10, 30 and 100 years to an assumed receipt in late 2015.

Important: This guide is general information, not legal or financial advice. Estate claims depend on provincial law and on the documents the Unclaimed Properties Office asks for in your case. Gizly is not paid by any organization mentioned here. See our affiliate disclosure.