Canadian Publicly Traded Firms
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.
It is important to inventory the full range of products and services of the target firm. Your target company could be involved in much more than we may initially believe, especially with the trend towards constant mergers and acquisitions. To fully understand the nature of their operations it is important to ascertain their current areas of activity and which area is generating the most income for the firm.
The business world uses the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) that assigns a NAICS code to specific products and services. It replaced the older Standard Industrial classification (SIC) codes. Canada’s Business Registries provides NAICS codes. Websites like Yahoo Finance and MSN Money also provide the primary NAICS codes for firms.
Information on products and services is also provided in the Annual Information Form (AIF) at SEDAR.
You should also consult the company web site and the company annual report (typically a glossy report for stockholders), which is distinct from their Annual Information Form.
Information on registered brand names is available at the Thomas Register. The AFL-CIO maintains the UNICORE database that includes information on corporate facilities, their location and if they are unionized information on the union in both the U.S. and in Canada. This database is only available to AFL-CIO affiliates.
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.