Did you know about Bank of Canada’s free online search engine for unclaimed balances?

At the end of December 2010, the Bank of Canada held 1.3 million unclaimed account balances worth roughly $433 million. About 78,000 of those records were worth $1,000 or more and totalled $294.4 million!

So where is this money coming from? Most of the unclaimed money is from old deposit or savings accounts that federally regulated banks or trust companies had held for 10 years with no owner activity. After 10 years, the dormant money is transferred to the Bank of Canada for safekeeping.

The Bank of Canada maintains custody of the inactive funds for up to:

100 years for amounts of $1,000 or more.
30 years for amounts under $1,000.

Unlike the financial institutions where the money was originally deposited, the Bank of Canada has no obligation to look for consumers to whom the funds belong. Searching and claiming available amounts are entirely your responsibility.

You can Search Online to see if you have an unclaimed balance

Fortunately, the Bank of Canada provides an easy-to-use online search for unclaimed balances. To find out if you have an outstanding unclaimed balance follow this link!