Researching Companies
To identify companies operating within an industry, search company directories available online or in print through the library or free on the Internet (for example, membership lists on industry association websites).
Directories typically contain contact information, such as the address, telephone number, and key executives or personnel. Some directories may offer minimal financial and profile information, as well.
Most directories can be searched by industry and some are organized by industry codes - information on industry codes and links to standard classification systems are below.
Company Directories and Profiles: Canada
- Better Business BureauBetter Business Bureau is a directory where only CBBB trusted businesses are collected through the National Partner Program,
- Canadian Trade IndexOnline industrial sourcing tool for manufacturers, exporters, distributors and service companies.
- Company Directories by the Government of CanadaCollection of company directories divided according to industries
- Contact CanadaCanada’s B2B Industry Database
- Directories of Canadian companiesFind businesses within Canada by name, business number or registry ID (beta)
- SEDAR (System for Electronic Document Analysis & Retrieval)Full-text filings and annual reports of Canadian publicly traded companies filed with the Canadian Securities Administrators.
- QuandlProvides free access to a repository of financial economic, and social datasets
Company Directories and Profiles: USA and World
- AnnualReports.comUp-to-date listing of annual reports on the internet
- EDGAR This link opens in a new windowUS public company filings submitted to the US Securities & Exchange Commission. Use for: finding financial and competitive information and documents (financial statements, reports) for US publicly traded companies.
- Business Dynamics Statistics (BDS)BDS provides annual measures of business dynamics (such as job creation and destruction, establishment births and deaths, and firm startups and shutdowns) for the economy and aggregated by establishment and firm characteristics.
- The Investor NetworkMarket information, earnings, commentary and trending news on publicly listed companies
- MarketWatchContains public company news, real-time commentary and investment tools and data, with dedicated journalists generating hundreds of headlines, stories, videos
- Statistics of US BusinessesAnnual series that provides national and subnational data on the distribution of economic data by enterprise size and industry.
- Calcbench-IncProvides standardized financial data in machine-readable formats for public use