Unclaimed bank balances
You may have an unclaimed amount of money waiting for you and not know about it.
What are unclaimed bank balances
If you don’t use certain financial products for 10 years, federally regulated financial institutions will consider the balance to be unclaimed. They must transfer unclaimed balances to the Bank of Canada.
How to find out if you have an unclaimed balance
Your financial institution must try to contact you before transferring an unclaimed balance to the Bank of Canada. They must do so in writing. They will try to contact you at the last address on file after the following times have gone by:
- 2 years of inactivity
- 5 years of inactivity
- 9 years of inactivity
Your institution will send notices in January after each period of inactivity mentioned above. For example, you have a bank account that has been unused for 2 years as of July. They will send you your first notice in January of the following year.
The notice after 9 years of inactivity tells you that they'll transfer your balance to the Bank of Canada. Your balance will be sent in January of the next year. They'll do so if you don’t contact them or don't use the product by the end of the year. This notice will also tell you how to claim the balance once they transfer it.
The Bank of Canada will hold unclaimed balances of less than $1,000 for 30 years. They will hold unclaimed balances of $1,000 or more for 100 years.
Find out if you have unclaimed bank balances.