Historical Company Records

The C.B. ‘Bud’ Johnston Library (Business) holds an extensive collection of corporate reports for thousands of companies, spanning from the nineteenth century to the present day. The collection includes annual reports, prospectuses, proxies, listing statements, and other miscellaneous documents. The records are available in a variety of formats (paper, microform, discs, and books). If you are interested in obtaining copies of any of these items, please email the Business Library.

If you do not locate a company in our holdings, or if you prefer to check a repository closer to your location, you may wish to consult the following resources: 

Annual Reports at Academic Business Libraries - Purdue University
This merged database aggregates corporate annual reports held in academic libraries. You can search by keyword, company name, or by university. 

McGill Corporate Reports Archive
McGill's digitial archive provides a repository of Canadian corporate annual reports spanning back to the 19th century. You can search or browse for a company to see which years are avaialble. You are also able to download it directly if the report has been digitized. 

Value of old stock certificates

We are unable to assist with determining the value of old stocks. The Canadian Securities Administrators’ guide “How to Determine the Value of an Old Stock Certificate” may help to direct you to appropriate resources.

Company record collections

Online databases for historical company information

  • SEDAR (Free database of Canadian corporate filings from 1994-present)
  • EDGAR (Free database of American corporate filings from 1994-present)
  • Mergent Archives (Off-campus access available to current students, faculty, and staff only)
  • Proquest Historical Annual Reports (Off-campus access available to current students, faculty, and staff only)