An "unclaimed balance" is a Canadian-dollar deposit or negotiable instrument, issued or held by a federally regulated bank or trust company. It can be in the form of a deposit account, bank draft, certified cheque, deposit receipt, money order, GIC, term deposit, credit card balance, or traveller's cheque.
When there has been no owner activity in relation to the balance for a period of 10 years, and the owner cannot be contacted by the institution holding it, the balance is turned over to the Bank of Canada, which acts as custodian on behalf of the owner.
Notice Due to the passing of Bill C-37 the following rules came into effect March 29th 2007.
The Bank of Canada will now hold unclaimed balances for thirty years, once they have been inactive for ten years at the financial institutions. Therefore, balances will now be held for a total of forty years prior to being prescribed.
Only balances of less than $1,000 will be prescribed after the forty-year period. Previously the limit was less than $500.