What is the PPSA registry and how do I search it before lending to an Ontario corporation?

The PPSA registry is Ontario's public electronic database of registered financing statements, showing security interests that secured parties have registered against a debtor's personal property. Before extending credit to a corporation, a prospective lender generally searches the registry to see whether that corporation's assets are already encumbered, by whom, and to what extent, before deciding whether and how to lend.

Searching is typically done by the debtor's exact legal name, since the registry indexes registrations by name, which means an imprecise or outdated corporate name search can miss existing registrations or return a misleading result. For certain serial-numbered goods, such as some equipment, a search by serial number may also be relevant. The search results generally show the collateral description, the registration date, and the secured party's identity, letting the prospective lender assess how much of the corporation's asset base is already committed to existing lenders and where its own security would likely rank. Given how much rides on getting the debtor name exactly right, lenders and their lawyers typically confirm the corporation's precise legal name against the corporate registry before running the PPSA search.