02. Products/Services
2.1 What are the company’s primary NAICS/SIC codes?
2.2 Summarize the principal product or service.
2.3 Provide percentages in terms of various activities.
Information on products and services may be found at Canada’s Business Registries. You can also search for a federally registered corporation at Corporations Canada on the Industry Canada website.
The Canadas Business Registries is a joint venture of all the provincial-territorial-federal governments, and nicely centralizes the basic information on companies.
The Canadian section of Search Systems links to corporate registration information at the provincial level in the “corporations and business” tab. The level of information available and whether there is a fee involved varies by Province. You may also want to explore other types of public information that is available.
Open Corporates also provides access to public records on privately held firms worldwide.
You should also consult the company web site and Hoover’s where you can buy more detailed information.
The business world uses the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) that assigns a NAICS code to specific products and services. Canada’s Business Registries provides NAICS codes. Also, most websites like Hoover’s provide the primary NAICS codes for firms. The NAICS system has largely replaced the older Standard Industrial Code (SIC).
The Dunn and Bradstreet Report on your firm may contain additional information. You will need to purchase it from D&B.
Information on registered brand names is available at the Thomas Register.
Paid Resources (Subscription Required)
An excellent site for gathering basic information is Business Source Complete (you will need to select Business Source Complete from the list). Basic information is available on “company information” tab or look under “company profiles” for the more extensive Datamonitor report. Mergent Market Atlas is another excellent site for a variety of corporate information.