What is a Corporation Key?
The Corporation Key is a 9-character code Corporations Canada uses to authorize online changes to your federal corporation — including filing your annual return. Since January 2024 it's required: there's no way to file a federal annual return online with just the corporation number.
The short version
- What it is: a confidential 9-character key, like a password for your corporation.
- Why you need it: Corporations Canada requires it to file the annual return online.
- Where it is: in the email Corporations Canada sent when you incorporated, and on annual-return reminder notices.
- Lost it? Request a free replacement — emailed to the registered email if one is on file, otherwise mailed to the registered office. Allow a few days.
Where to find your Corporation Key
For most corporations the key is in the incorporation email Corporations Canada sent when the company was created (and on filing receipts from before September 2021). It also appears on the paper annual-return reminder notices Corporations Canada mails out. If you incorporated through a lawyer or an online service, check the documents they handed back to you — the key is often in there.
How to get a replacement if you've lost it
You can request a new Corporation Key for free from Corporations Canada. Corporations Canada delivers a replacement by emailing it to the corporation's registered email address when one is on file; otherwise it is mailed to the registered office. Plan for a few days of delivery time either way. Make sure the registered email and registered office address on file with Corporations Canada are current before you request it, or the key may go to the wrong place.
Do I have to log in myself?
No. You give us the Corporation Key and we file on your behalf — you never have to log into the government portal. The key is confidential to the corporation's directors, so only share it with a service you trust to file for you.
How we handle your Corporation Key
Handing a confidential code to a filing service you've just found online is the hardest part of this. Here's exactly what we do with it:
- Where it comes from: your incorporation email or a Corporations Canada reminder notice (see above) — we never generate or guess it.
- We use it once. The key is used for your filing session with Corporations Canada, then purged from our system once your filing is confirmed. We don't hold it on file for next year — you'll share it again for your next annual return.
- You can skip sharing it with us entirely. Request a free replacement key directly from Corporations Canada at ised-isde.canada.ca — emailed to the registered email if present, otherwise mailed to the registered office — and file it yourself if you'd rather not.
- We're an independent private filing service, not Corporations Canada or any government agency. Filing it yourself, direct with Corporations Canada, costs $12 in government fees; we charge $399 to handle the calendar, the portal, and the confirmation.
Don't have your key yet? You can still get started. Find your deadline first, and we'll walk you through getting the Corporation Key as part of filing.
Check your deadline while you find your key
Type your corporation name or number to see your next federal annual-return deadline.
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Results are based on Canada's public federal corporations registry and may lag the official record. Always confirm in your Corporations Canada Online Filing Centre. Compliance Calendar is an independent filing service — not Corporations Canada or any government agency.
Compliance Calendar is an independent filing service. We are not Corporations Canada or any government agency, and we don't provide legal, tax, or accounting advice. Process details follow Corporations Canada's current practice and can change — confirm in your Corporations Canada account.