Director addresses are public: Maintaining director privacy

The names and addresses of directors are public corporate information and will be made available to the public. This is the case even if a director's address is also residential. While this may require filing a corporate search and a bit of a wait in some jurisdictions, for corporations governed under the Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act (CNCA) and the Canada Business Corporations Act (CBCA), this information is immediately searchable in the Corporations Canada online database.

Directors generally do not wish to publish their home address online, especially not in a way that can be easily scraped and potentially misused. What to do?

The alternative to providing a director's home address: Address for service

Under the CNCA and the CBCA (and in most other Canadian corporate jurisdictions), directors must provide either:

1. A residential address or

2. An address for service that is not their residential address.

If a director does not wish to provide their residential address, they may provide another physical address instead, but this address must accept legal documents on the director's behalf. 

In many cases, a corporation’s registered head office address will be agreed as the "address for service" for all directors. Self-employed directors will sometimes use the address of another business they operate as their address for service. 

When choosing an address for service, keep in mind that it must be a physical address (it cannot be a post office box), where a person or business agrees to accept legal documents, formal notices, or court papers on behalf of the director.

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This is general information, not legal advice — and it may not reflect the current law. If it matters to your situation, book a consult. Our team would be happy to help!