Most of us have a few dollars hiding somewhere, whether it’s in a jacket pocket, an old purse or the bottom of a junk drawer. But there’s one place you’ve probably never thought to look, and it might be holding a lot more than spare change.
Revenu Québec keeps a public register of money and property that belongs to Quebecers but was never claimed. Right now, it holds roughly 450,000 items worth about $570 million in total. And searching it is free.
In a Facebook post from October 27, Revenu Québec said it returns an average of $32 million a year to the rightful owners. That still leaves a lot of money sitting there.
When a bank, an insurance company or another business can’t track down the person a sum belongs to, it eventually hands it over to Revenu Québec.
For financial products, that usually happens when an account hasn’t had any activity, claims or instructions for three years, and the company hasn’t been able to reach the owner.
Revenu Québec then holds onto it, tries to find the owner or their heirs and lists it on the register so anyone can search for it. If nobody ever claims it, the money eventually goes to the province’s Generations Fund.
What you might find
The register mostly includes:
- Life insurance policies
- Money from pension plans
- Estates
- Investment accounts
- The contents of safety deposit boxes
- Property from dissolved companies
Each listing can show the net value of the item, what it is, the name and last known address of the person it belongs to, and the company that handed it over.
The value shown is a net amount because Revenu Québec charges fees to manage these items. If the fees are equal to or higher than what the item is worth, it won’t show up on the register at all.
However, unclaimed balances from accounts at federally chartered banks aren’t on this list. You’ll need to check the Bank of Canada’s unclaimed property tool for those.
How to search
You don’t need an account to use Revenu Québec’s search tool. You can look up:
- Your full or partial name
- The name of a family member, living or deceased
- The name of a company linked to you or a relative
- A reference number from a Revenu Québec letter, if you got one
Nothing under your name? Try your parents’ or grandparents’ names, especially if they’ve passed away. An estate could involve you without anyone in the family realizing it. And if you’ve ever changed your name, search the old one too.
How to claim it
Found something with your name on it? You can claim a financial product online through My Account for individuals, or by filling out form BD-81.1.
Heirs and estate liquidators need to use form BD-81.3 instead, along with supporting documents like a death certificate. Businesses can use form BD-81.2.
Be wary of anyone who reaches out offering to recover your money in exchange for a cut. Revenu Québec warns that some of these so-called “heir hunters” can charge hefty fees, sometimes before telling you what the money even is. You don’t need anyone’s help, since searching and claiming are both free.
How long you have
There are deadlines, depending on the type and value of what’s owed to you:
- Items under $500: 10 years from when they were handed over to the government
- Items worth $500 or more: No time limit, though they’re only listed on the register for 30 years
- Estates: 10 years from the day you became entitled to the inheritance. Estates also stay on the register for 10 years after the person’s death.
New items are added every week, so coming up empty today doesn’t mean you will in six months. It’s worth checking at least once a year, maybe around tax time.
This story was inspired by the article “Près de 570 M$ non réclamés chez Revenu Québec : Vérifie si un montant t’attend,” which was originally published on Narcity Québec.
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