1. Get names and addresses
Before you can garnish the money owed to you, you need the correct names and addresses of:
- the person you want to garnish
- their employer, if you plan to garnish wages
- their bank, if you plan to garnish an account
- any co-owners of the money to be garnished, for example, if they have a joint bank account
If you don’t use the correct names and addresses, the may be able to ignore your order.
Searching for a company name
If the employer, , or debtor is a company registered with the Ontario government, do a ServiceOntario’s business name search.
If the employer, co-owner, or debtor is a company registered with the federal government, do a federal corporation search.
When you search for the company name, you may get a corporate number. Some companies use their corporate number instead of a business name.
If you didn’t have an examination hearing and are unable to find the correct name of the company, you can ask ServiceOntario for help. You must pay a fee for this service. The ServiceOntario Helpline can be reached at (416) 314-8880 or toll free in Ontario at 1-800-361-3223.
Bank name and address
To garnish a bank account, you need the name and address of the branch where the debtor banks. You can get this information at an examination hearing.
Examination hearing
Before you apply for garnishment, you must have an examination hearing. At the examination hearing, the debtor must show their financial situation, , and ability to pay the court and the .
It is also where you can find out about the debtor’s job and bank accounts. This is information you will need to get a garnishment order.
