Business & Personal Finance

Finding Business Biographies

Are you are going to a job interview or investing in a company? 

If so, you may want to find a biography on a specific company director or executive.  The Toronto Public Library has a number of business databases that may help you in your seach.  They are:

Financial Post (FP) Advisor

• To start a search, click on Directory of Directors on the left side of the home page.
• There is information on over 29,000+ directors and executives of Canadian companies.

Gale Virtual Reference Library

• On the left side of the home page, click on the heading Business.
• Click on the title International Directory of Business Biographies. 4v. 2005. 
• This title examines the career paths, business achievements, leadership styles, business strategies and industry impact of Fortune 500 and Global 500 corporate leaders, as well as entrepreneurs and other notable businesspeople through in-depth biographical narratives.

Mergent Online

• Company Profiles include an Executive tab. 
• Individual executive profiles are available for download or printer friendly format.  Photos are included.

These TPL databases are available via remote access.  An active Toronto Public Library card is required in order to access.

 

 

 

 

Finding Company Histories

Some companies are so successful that they are able to celebrate a long and prosperous history. 

For example, Tiffany & Co. is one of those companies.  The jeweller is celebrating its 175th anniversary this year.  Charles Lewis Tiffany, the company's founder, founded the store in 1837.

Many companies with such an illustrious past sometimes have a web page dedicated to its history at their web site.  If such a web page does not exist for a company that you are interested in, here is a list of Toronto Public Library's electronic resources that may be able to help you find a company history: 

Business & Company Resource Center

• If you do a Company Search, select the desired company from the Results List.
• In the selected company's profile, click on the Histories tab.
• Two sources may be available for your selected company; i.e. Notable Corporate Chronologies and/or International DIrectory of Company Histories.

Financial Post (FP) Advisor

• Historical reports are available for the top currently and formerly traded Canadian companies. 
• These reports include detailed descriptions on operations, 7-year consolidated financial statements, capital stock changes, and company history dating back to incorporation.

Mergent Online

• Company profiles include a History tab.

These TPL databases are available via remote access.  An active Toronto Public Library card is required in order to access.

For those interested in a history of Tiffany & Co., search the Toronto Public Library catalogue with the subject heading Tiffany and Company - History.

Value Line now available on-line at select TPL branches.

If you are investing in the stock market, now more than ever, doing your research can result in either making a bundle or losing the same.  The two major business departments of the Toronto Public Library system, located at North York Central Library and the Toronto Reference Library, have always offered a variety of investment newsletters to assist individual investors in their research.  Value Line has been one of the most popular resources over the years.  And now it is available in electronic format, in house, at both of these branches.

If you aren't familiar with this source, you should become acquainted.   First a bit about Value Line from the company itself.  "Arnold Bernhard founded Value Line in 1931 and built it into one of the nation’s largest independent investment advisory services as well as a major money management institution. He was known as the "Dean of Wall Street" by many in the investment community because of his keen analytical acumen and the number of security analysts he trained."

The Value Line service as it appears today, was started 32 years ago.  Reports for companies traded on major exchanges are set up as "one stop shopping" for information about a company and include analysis and rankings from Value Line staff. 

Statistical data includes graphing of stock over the past 10-13 years, growth rates, quarterly sales and earnings, statistical milestones, including long term trends.  A brief description of the company is given as well as analysts commentary on the company's recent developments and future prospects.  The on-line version includes industry analysis as well. 

Stop by either business department and have a look at this exceptional resource.  While you are in the library, why not check out some of the other investment newsletters each subscribe to.

 

 

MERX: The Magic Word for Doing Business With The Canadian Public Sector

Could there possibly exist a website that would list government tenders (federal, provincial and municipal) by date of issue and industry category? Where tenders could be narrowed down to just those that pertain to a particular geographic area? That would give all the details of each tender?

Yes, such a website does exist! MERX, the Government of Canada's electronic tendering service, will do all this and more.

Here's some information from their website:

"MERX is the most complete source of

• Canadian public tenders
• Private tenders
• U.S. tenders
• Private-sector construction news

available in Canada. MERX has levelled the playing field so that businesses of any size can have easy and affordable access to billions of dollars in contracting opportunities with the Government of Canada (GC), participating provincial and municipal governments, the U.S. Government, state and local governments, and the private sector."

Much of the site can be accessed for free, as the Government of Canada does not charge fees for basic access to its tenders. Other parts of the site are available for a small charge. 

MERX does not list all government tenders, however. How does MERX fit into the overall procurement process of the Canadian Government? Here is an excerpt from the The Government Electronic Tendering Service (GETS) web page of the Contracts Canada website. It explains:

"GETS is an on-line system that advertises government contracting opportunities to potential bidders. GETS is operated by Mediagrif Interactive Technologies Inc. as MERX which provides the service to the federal government under contract.

Departments must use MERX for requirements subject to any of the trade agreements. Some are using it as well for other purchases. PWGSC also uses MERX to advertise requirements for printing services estimated at $10,000 or above, most goods and services estimated at $25,000 or above. It advertises requirements estimated at $100,000 or above for construction and leasing. It also advertises requirements estimated at $76,600 or above for architectural and engineering consulting and services related to real property.

More and more of the Government of Canada's requirements are advertised on MERX annually."

For more information, check out How the Government Buys Goods and Services.

 

Guide To Finance, Investment and Economic Periodicals

Suggested Titles

Financial Market Trends (online version)
International Journal of Government Auditing (online version)
Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine (online version)
MoneySense (online version)
SmartMoney (print version)
Business Week (online version)
Canadian Business (online version)
The Economist (online version)
Barron's (online version)
The Canadian Money Saver (print version)
The Financial Post (online version)
Financial Post Business
Financial Times
Money
The MoneyLetter (print version)
 
Business Article Databases

Business and Company Resource Center
Canadian Business and Current Affairs
Canadian Directory to Foundations and Corporations (only available in any library)
CorpTech (only available at the Toronto Reference Library or North York Central Library)
Financial Post Online
MarketLine (only available at the Toronto Reference Library or North York Central Library)
Mergent Online
SmallbizXpress
ViewsWire Global (The Economist)

MarketLine - Research Database

 

MarketLine offers a collection of company, industry and country information, extending across 200+countries and every major industry vertical. This market intelligence research resource is designed to enable users to build an understanding of markets and the factors that influence their development. It offers in-depth professional research and analysis in easy-to-digest formats, including interactive reports and databases.

• Provides current market research information such as industry profiles offering standardized market data (including size & segmentation) and competitive analysis, company profiles for over 10,000 public and private companies, plus 60 premium and 155 standard country profiles.
• There are approximately 1,800 Canadian companies listed.
• Includes over 2,500 market research reports on key industrial and consumer sectors across the world’s leading economies.  Includes 5 years historical and 5 year forecast market values and/or volumes.
• Includes SWOT analyses for the most important companies in each industry sector.
• Has live feed of relevant news, comment and analysis of current business issues, including merger and acquisition activity, product launches, and regulatory changes.

CONTENT TIPS

Industries

• Industry Reports draw on extensive primary and secondary research, all aggregated, analyzed, crosschecked and presented in a consistent format.  They include:
• • 5 year historical and 5 year forecast market values and/or volumes
  • market segmentations
  • company and / or product market shares
  • explanatory text identifying major trends and significant growth points
  • analysis of each market's competitive landscape, including main players
  • distribution channels and regulatory issues
• Industries – Consumer Markets Database
  This  database provides comprehensive data across global food, drinks and personal care markets.  The database is designed to offer a complete source of data to support market and business planning, marketing and research functions across consumer sectors. The database provides market size, segmentation, consumption, share and distribution channel data covering 55 countries and over 150 product categories, including five-year forecasts of market and category performance.

Companies

• Company Profilescoverage includes the most important global companies on a number of parameters. Companies are prioritized for inclusion where they are constituents of major stock indices, MarketLine industry rankings, or are covered by the major investment banks and financial community.
  Each profile includes:
• • company overviews
  • business descriptions
  • company history
  • executive and product listings
  • locations
  • subsidiaries
  • key competitors
• Companies – Financial Deals Database contains over 100,000 deal records, with five years of historical information supported by 3,000+ live deals of over $5 million in value tracked each month.  Each financial deal record provides:
  • Key deal facts
  • Details of companies involved
  • Deal timeframe and rationale
  • Target company financials
  • Advisor information
  • Investment firm details
  
  
  The database covers all major financial deals, regardless of industry or geography. In addition, the database will also comprehensively track lower value deals in the following industries:
  
  • Automotive and Logistics
  • Consumer
  • Energy
  • Financial Services
  • Healthcare
  • Retail
  • Technology

Countries

• Country Profiles include political analysis such as election details, policies and external relations; economic analysis such as trading partners, key issues; & key macroeconomic data such as GDP, inflation, unemployment, and stock exchange performance.
• Countries – Base Drivers Database
  Use this database to create your own reports, comparing macro-economic, socio-economic, and demographic data.
  Choose from:
• • Country Profile – compare multiple indicators and data sets for one country or geo-political grouping
  • Country Comparison – compare one indicator across multiple countries
  • Custom View – compare various indicators across various countries
  • Country Quick View – use this to gain context for other information gathered in MarketLine.  You can also find full country profiles for the top 60 economies here.
  • Currency Converter – track any 2 currencies on a annual average or year-end basis

Latest News

• News and Comment section contains live news feed, comment and analysis.  Around 60 articles are added by MarketLine analysts daily in addition to hundreds of articles from financial and international press and other information providers.

 
NAVIGATION TIPS:

Browse

• Browse by category by clicking on the arrow button at the bottom of each column on the main page.
   
• Alternately you can click on the Find Information button from the home page to browse by industry, company or country.
• You can drill down further within that category by clicking on the hypertext links.  

Search

• To conduct a quick search, enter your term or terms in the Search Our Products box at the top of the home page and click on Go.
  
  
• If searching for a particular industry type the industry followed by the word “industry”, e.g. automotive industry. Do not limit by country as not all reports are included for every country.
• To search for a company simply type all or part of the company name in the Search Our Products box
• Multiple terms are automatically “anded” together.  

Wildcards

• Use ? for the first character of a string, e.g. ?an will retrieve pan, can or ban
• You can use * as a posterior truncation symbol, e.g. corp* will retrieve corporate, corporation, etc.

Boolean Searching

• Searches are automatically “anded” together
• The term “accrue” selects documents that include at least one of the search terms you specify and rank ones that contain both more highly e.g. Ford ACCRUE Honda – references either Ford or Honda and brings those articles referencing both search terms to the top of the hit list.  It does, however, sometimes exclude items that may be of interest.

SEARCH RESULTS

• A typical result screen will give you an exact match where possible plus relevant company profiles, relevant industry profiles, relevant deals, and relevant news and comments.
• To view results, click on the hyper link of the company name, industry sector, country name or title of article.
• Results can be displayed in Word, Excel, or PowerPoint
• Industry reports are in PDF format

REFINE YOUR SEARCH

• From the results screen you can then refine your search to results published within the past 7 days, past 14 days, past 28 days, past year, past 2 years or past 2+ years by using the drop down menu on the left.
• You have the option to search within the search results by typing your search term(s) in the SEARCH WITHIN RESULTS box
• Below the SEARCH WITHIN RESULTS box, you have the option to refine by industry or refine by geography.

SEARCH THE TOOLS AND DATABASES
There are two ways to access the 3 databases.
Method 1 – from the main page, from the column to the right, under Tools and Databases

• Assess company M&A activity takes you to the Financial Deals database
• Understand country dynamics takes you to the Base Drivers database
• Value consumer markets takes you to industry information in the Consumer Markets database

Method 2 – Click on the Find Information button on the main page.
Click on the database of your choice from the column on the right


INDUSTRIES
Consumer Markets Database
From the Find Information screen, you will be guided through a series of screens where you can choose by clicking in check boxes beside the item. To refine your selection click on the + to the left of the industry and check off the boxes beside the relevant indicator(s)

• First choose an industry and a date range and click on Proceed to country selection
• Next choose a country or series of countries.  
• Select from the drop down box from market value, market volume, company shares or distribution.  
• Next choose from the drop down box between compare by country or compare by category
• Click on Proceed to next screen
• Results default to a chart, but you can create a bubble chart, stack chart, download into Excel, or save to disc.
• Forecast results are in italics.

Sample results below show the market value by country for 1999-2011 for cat care in the US and Canada.

 
COMPANIES
Financial Deals Database
Track mergers and acquisitions information on 3,000+ deals of over $5 million in value each month on a global basis

• The default screen shows the most recent deal first
• Type the company name in the Search Within Results box
• The hit list will contain information regarding the headline, the target, the acquirer, the value and the status of the deal i.e. whether it is rumoured, announced or completed.
• From here you can refine by industry or refine by geography.
• Once inside a record you can also trace the deal history

COUNTRIES
Base Drivers Database
The Base Drivers Database contains both historical and forecast macro-economic, socio-economic and demographic data for 215 countries and 46 geo-political groupings world wide. You can search the database using five different data views.

Country Profile
Compare multiple indicators and data sets for one country or geo-political grouping. For example, compare GDP, CPI and population splits for the USA only.

Country Comparison
Compare one indicator across multiple countries and geo-political groupings. For example, compare meat consumption in Canada, Japan, China and India.

Custom View
Build your own custom data view allowing cross-comparison of various indicators across various countries in the database. For example, compare internet users as percentage of the population and television sets per 100 people in Brazil, Russia, India, China and Canada from 2000-2015.

Country Quick View
This database provides a quick reference point for geographical, historical and political data for all countries in the database. This view is designed to provide context to the database by offering a top level overview of any country or geo-political grouping. In addition, you can view full country profile reports for the top 60 global economies.  You can create reports by selecting from indicators from agriculture to trade and compare over a range of years

Currency Converter
Compare any two currencies on both an annual average basis or a year-end basis. For example, see how the Japanese Yen has tracked against the Philippines Peso

To navigate these tools:

• From the entry screen either type in the country or geopolitical region you are interested in or click on the + signs besides the groupings, then check of the boxes beside the relevant countries or regions
• Click on Proceed to the next step
• Select from agricultural, commodities, environment, labour force, population or telecommunications indicators to compare
• Click on Proceed to the next step
• Select a year range from the drop down menus
• Click on Finish
• You can save the report to Word, Excel or PowerPoint formats.  In some instances you can plot results as a line chart or as a bar chart.

Printing Options

• Click in the print preview icon in your browser to select pages to print.

MarketLine offers a collection of company, industry and country information, extending across 200+countries and every major industry vertical. This market intelligence research resource is designed to enable users to build an understanding of markets and the factors that influence their development. It offers in-depth professional research and analysis in easy-to-digest formats, including interactive reports and databases.

• Provides current market research information such as industry profiles offering standardized market data (including size & segmentation) and competitive analysis, company profiles for over 10,000 public and private companies, plus 60 premium and 155 standard country profiles.
• There are approximately 1,800 Canadian companies listed.
• Includes over 2,500 market research reports on key industrial and consumer sectors across the world’s leading economies.  Includes 5 years historical and 5 year forecast market values and/or volumes.
• Includes SWOT analyses for the most important companies in each industry sector.
• Has live feed of relevant news, comment and analysis of current business issues, including merger and acquisition activity, product launches, and regulatory changes.

CONTENT TIPS

Industries

• Industry Reports draw on extensive primary and secondary research, all aggregated, analyzed, crosschecked and presented in a consistent format.  They include:
• • 5 year historical and 5 year forecast market values and/or volumes
  • market segmentations
  • company and / or product market shares
  • explanatory text identifying major trends and significant growth points
  • analysis of each market's competitive landscape, including main players
  • distribution channels and regulatory issues
• Industries – Consumer Markets Database
  This  database provides comprehensive data across global food, drinks and personal care markets.  The database is designed to offer a complete source of data to support market and business planning, marketing and research functions across consumer sectors. The database provides market size, segmentation, consumption, share and distribution channel data covering 55 countries and over 150 product categories, including five-year forecasts of market and category performance.

Companies

• Company Profilescoverage includes the most important global companies on a number of parameters. Companies are prioritized for inclusion where they are constituents of major stock indices, MarketLine industry rankings, or are covered by the major investment banks and financial community.
  Each profile includes:
• • company overviews
  • business descriptions
  • company history
  • executive and product listings
  • locations
  • subsidiaries
  • key competitors
• Companies – Financial Deals Database contains over 100,000 deal records, with five years of historical information supported by 3,000+ live deals of over $5 million in value tracked each month.  Each financial deal record provides:
  • Key deal facts
  • Details of companies involved
  • Deal timeframe and rationale
  • Target company financials
  • Advisor information
  • Investment firm details
  
  
  The database covers all major financial deals, regardless of industry or geography. In addition, the database will also comprehensively track lower value deals in the following industries:
  
  • Automotive and Logistics
  • Consumer
  • Energy
  • Financial Services
  • Healthcare
  • Retail
  • Technology

Countries

• Country Profiles include political analysis such as election details, policies and external relations; economic analysis such as trading partners, key issues; & key macroeconomic data such as GDP, inflation, unemployment, and stock exchange performance.
• Countries – Base Drivers Database
  Use this database to create your own reports, comparing macro-economic, socio-economic, and demographic data.
  Choose from:
• • Country Profile – compare multiple indicators and data sets for one country or geo-political grouping
  • Country Comparison – compare one indicator across multiple countries
  • Custom View – compare various indicators across various countries
  • Country Quick View – use this to gain context for other information gathered in MarketLine.  You can also find full country profiles for the top 60 economies here.
  • Currency Converter – track any 2 currencies on a annual average or year-end basis

Latest News

• News and Comment section contains live news feed, comment and analysis.  Around 60 articles are added by MarketLine analysts daily in addition to hundreds of articles from financial and international press and other information providers.

 
NAVIGATION TIPS:

Browse

• Browse by category by clicking on the arrow button at the bottom of each column on the main page.
   
• Alternately you can click on the Find Information button from the home page to browse by industry, company or country.
• You can drill down further within that category by clicking on the hypertext links.  

Search

• To conduct a quick search, enter your term or terms in the Search Our Products box at the top of the home page and click on Go.
  
  
• If searching for a particular industry type the industry followed by the word “industry”, e.g. automotive industry. Do not limit by country as not all reports are included for every country.
• To search for a company simply type all or part of the company name in the Search Our Products box
• Multiple terms are automatically “anded” together.  

Wildcards

• Use ? for the first character of a string, e.g. ?an will retrieve pan, can or ban
• You can use * as a posterior truncation symbol, e.g. corp* will retrieve corporate, corporation, etc.

Boolean Searching

• Searches are automatically “anded” together
• The term “accrue” selects documents that include at least one of the search terms you specify and rank ones that contain both more highly e.g. Ford ACCRUE Honda – references either Ford or Honda and brings those articles referencing both search terms to the top of the hit list.  It does, however, sometimes exclude items that may be of interest.

SEARCH RESULTS

• A typical result screen will give you an exact match where possible plus relevant company profiles, relevant industry profiles, relevant deals, and relevant news and comments.
• To view results, click on the hyper link of the company name, industry sector, country name or title of article.
• Results can be displayed in Word, Excel, or PowerPoint
• Industry reports are in PDF format

REFINE YOUR SEARCH

• From the results screen you can then refine your search to results published within the past 7 days, past 14 days, past 28 days, past year, past 2 years or past 2+ years by using the drop down menu on the left.
• You have the option to search within the search results by typing your search term(s) in the SEARCH WITHIN RESULTS box
• Below the SEARCH WITHIN RESULTS box, you have the option to refine by industry or refine by geography.

SEARCH THE TOOLS AND DATABASES
There are two ways to access the 3 databases.
Method 1 – from the main page, from the column to the right, under Tools and Databases

• Assess company M&A activity takes you to the Financial Deals database
• Understand country dynamics takes you to the Base Drivers database
• Value consumer markets takes you to industry information in the Consumer Markets database

Method 2 – Click on the Find Information button on the main page.
Click on the database of your choice from the column on the right


INDUSTRIES
Consumer Markets Database
From the Find Information screen, you will be guided through a series of screens where you can choose by clicking in check boxes beside the item. To refine your selection click on the + to the left of the industry and check off the boxes beside the relevant indicator(s)

• First choose an industry and a date range and click on Proceed to country selection
• Next choose a country or series of countries.  
• Select from the drop down box from market value, market volume, company shares or distribution.  
• Next choose from the drop down box between compare by country or compare by category
• Click on Proceed to next screen
• Results default to a chart, but you can create a bubble chart, stack chart, download into Excel, or save to disc.
• Forecast results are in italics.

Sample results below show the market value by country for 1999-2011 for cat care in the US and Canada.

 
COMPANIES
Financial Deals Database
Track mergers and acquisitions information on 3,000+ deals of over $5 million in value each month on a global basis

• The default screen shows the most recent deal first
• Type the company name in the Search Within Results box
• The hit list will contain information regarding the headline, the target, the acquirer, the value and the status of the deal i.e. whether it is rumoured, announced or completed.
• From here you can refine by industry or refine by geography.
• Once inside a record you can also trace the deal history

COUNTRIES
Base Drivers Database
The Base Drivers Database contains both historical and forecast macro-economic, socio-economic and demographic data for 215 countries and 46 geo-political groupings world wide. You can search the database using five different data views.

Country Profile
Compare multiple indicators and data sets for one country or geo-political grouping. For example, compare GDP, CPI and population splits for the USA only.

Country Comparison
Compare one indicator across multiple countries and geo-political groupings. For example, compare meat consumption in Canada, Japan, China and India.

Custom View
Build your own custom data view allowing cross-comparison of various indicators across various countries in the database. For example, compare internet users as percentage of the population and television sets per 100 people in Brazil, Russia, India, China and Canada from 2000-2015.

Country Quick View
This database provides a quick reference point for geographical, historical and political data for all countries in the database. This view is designed to provide context to the database by offering a top level overview of any country or geo-political grouping. In addition, you can view full country profile reports for the top 60 global economies.  You can create reports by selecting from indicators from agriculture to trade and compare over a range of years

Currency Converter
Compare any two currencies on both an annual average basis or a year-end basis. For example, see how the Japanese Yen has tracked against the Philippines Peso

To navigate these tools:

• From the entry screen either type in the country or geopolitical region you are interested in or click on the + signs besides the groupings, then check of the boxes beside the relevant countries or regions
• Click on Proceed to the next step
• Select from agricultural, commodities, environment, labour force, population or telecommunications indicators to compare
• Click on Proceed to the next step
• Select a year range from the drop down menus
• Click on Finish
• You can save the report to Word, Excel or PowerPoint formats.  In some instances you can plot results as a line chart or as a bar chart.

Printing Options

• Click in the print preview icon in your browser to select pages to print.

Guide To Researching A Canadian Company

Keyword Searching

A mix of the following keywords will help you find good results when you search our website.

Corporations, Finance, Directories, Canada, Periodicals, Financial statements, Annual reports

Checking the Shelves
If you're in a library, browse the shelves around these call numbers

• 380.10257
• 338.70257
• 670.5
• 670.5

Relevant Titles
These books can give you relevant information on Canadian companies:

Blue Book of Canadian Business
Canadian Key Business Directory
Canadian Trade Index/CTI
Fraser’s Canadian Trade Directory
National Services Directory
Ontario Business to Business Sales & Marketing Directory
Scott’s National Distributors Select – CD ROM
Scott’s Directories: Greater Toronto Business Directory (3 vols.)

Using Online Sources

Get access to a wide range of databases online and in the library.

Once you sign in with your library card, you will be able to select and search Business databases to find listings of magazines and newspaper articles about specific companies.

The Canadian indexes are CPI.Q and Canadian Business and Current Affairs (CBCA).

Virtual Reference Library

The Virtual Reference Library is a website that lists the best of the internet, brought to you by librarians. Browse the Business, Finance and Economics section to find helpful online resources.

Suggested Collections and Databases

Financial Post Online (library card required)
The information on this site provides historical and current data, investment recommendations, as well as the latest earnings and performance analyses for a wide range of Canadian traded companies and industries.

CanCorp Microfiche / Corporate Retriever (Canadian) –previously CanCorp Documents and CanCorp Financials
At the Toronto Reference Library, the CanCorp microfiche include company financial statements and other documents filed with the Ontario Securities Commission until 1997. The microfiche are held at the Business Annex desk.

Incorporation Information
You can confirm whether a compny is incorporated in Ontario by consulting the Oncorp database. This database is available only at the Business Information Desk at the Toronto Reference Library.

To confirm whether a company is incorporated federally, consult Corporations Canada and NUANS (Newly Upgraded Automated Name Search).

Keyword Searching

A mix of the following keywords will help you find good results when you search our website.

Corporations, Finance, Directories, Canada, Periodicals, Financial statements, Annual reports

Checking the Shelves
If you're in a library, browse the shelves around these call numbers

• 380.10257
• 338.70257
• 670.5
• 670.5

Relevant Titles
These books can give you relevant information on Canadian companies:

Blue Book of Canadian Business
Canadian Key Business Directory
Canadian Trade Index/CTI
Fraser’s Canadian Trade Directory
National Services Directory
Ontario Business to Business Sales & Marketing Directory
Scott’s National Distributors Select – CD ROM
Scott’s Directories: Greater Toronto Business Directory (3 vols.)

Using Online Sources

Get access to a wide range of databases online and in the library.

Once you sign in with your library card, you will be able to select and search Business databases to find listings of magazines and newspaper articles about specific companies.

The Canadian indexes are CPI.Q and Canadian Business and Current Affairs (CBCA).

Virtual Reference Library

The Virtual Reference Library is a website that lists the best of the internet, brought to you by librarians. Browse the Business, Finance and Economics section to find helpful online resources.

Suggested Collections and Databases

Financial Post Online (library card required)
The information on this site provides historical and current data, investment recommendations, as well as the latest earnings and performance analyses for a wide range of Canadian traded companies and industries.

CanCorp Microfiche / Corporate Retriever (Canadian) –previously CanCorp Documents and CanCorp Financials
At the Toronto Reference Library, the CanCorp microfiche include company financial statements and other documents filed with the Ontario Securities Commission until 1997. The microfiche are held at the Business Annex desk.

Incorporation Information
You can confirm whether a compny is incorporated in Ontario by consulting the Oncorp database. This database is available only at the Business Information Desk at the Toronto Reference Library.

To confirm whether a company is incorporated federally, consult Corporations Canada and NUANS (Newly Upgraded Automated Name Search).

Real Business Plans - The Business Plans Handbook

  

Each volume of the Business Plans Handbook includes about 25 actual business plans, written by real entrepreneurs to get funding for their small business. There's a plan for a bed and breakfast, a coffee shop, health insurance comany, insurance loyalty program, microbrewery, kennel, publisher, private investigator and hundreds more. 

The Handbook comes out about once a year. So far, fourteen volumes have been published.

Best of all, the Business Plans Handbook is available electronically. It's online as part of the Gale Virtual Reference Library, a product to which the Toronto Public Library subscribes. 

To use this database, and particularly the Business section which includes the business plans, you'll have to have a Toronto Public Library card. Here's how to get one.

Is a good business plan important? Sun Tzu had this to say about the value of planning ahead: "The general who wins the battle makes many calculations in his temple before the battle is fought. The general who loses makes but few calculations beforehand."

Business & Company Resource Centre: Need Another Source for Company Information?

If you are looking for companies and industry news and analysis that is international in scope, look no further! Have a look at Business & Company Resource Centre (library card needed to access). This online database, which the Toronto Public Library subscribes to, brings together company profiles, brand information, rankings, investment reports, company histories, industry news and analysis, and chronologies and periodicals. Here you can find detailed company and industry news and information, as well as coverage of major business events and trends from 1980 to the present, 

To do a basic company search, type in a company name in the search box. To conduct a more advanced search, choose Company under the Additional Search Options and use one or more of these search boxes: company name or ticker symbol, SIC code, NAICS code, product or brand name or type, city, state or country. You can also browse the list of companies by clicking on Browse Companies under the company name search box.

To search for companies organized by industry, use the Company option under the Additional Search Options and enter the type of company, e.g. mining, or use the NAICS code or SIC code. If you do not know the code, look it up using the Browse SIC Codes or Browse NAICS Code.

To find industry information, click on the Industry icon under Additional Search Options. Again, you can search by SIC or NAICS code or search words for your industry (e.g. clothing). The results will depend on availability and the industry - they could be complete research reports, business encyclopedia articles or articles from newspapers, magazines, and trade journals, etc.

Also available are investment reports (over 1.5 million of them!) dating back 3 years. Use the Advanced Search feature and choose Investment Reports from the drop down menu. But you have to provide either the ticker symbol (e.g. goog for Google), SIC or NAICS code.

Lastly, the financial reports. Use these to analyze a company over time, compare a company's financials to its major competitors, or choose specific companies to compare. Reports going back 6 years or 5 interim periods are available. And the data can be exported in Microsoft Excel. Use Advanced Search and choose Financials from the drop down menu. Type in the ticker symbol, e.g. goog for Google. The results will default to Fundamentals Analysis. If you want to compare to major competitors or compare to specific companies, click in the radio button beside the choice and click on Update View to do the comparisons. If you click on Financial Dashboard, you will get company quotes as well as news, SEC filings, charts and historical data. You can also view market movers, world markets and more!

The beauty of this database is that it is available at all branches of the Toronto Public Library as well as from home, if you have a valid Toronto Public Library card. You can print or email the results to yourself. To retain any graphics that come with the article, chose the HTML format when you print or email the results.

If you are using this database for the first time, you may want to go to any one of the three Research & Reference Libraries (Toronto Reference Library, North York Central Library and Urban Affairs Library) for expert assistance.

Have fun!

Company Information for Your Job Search

So you want to create a resume mailing list?  Or maybe, you are courageously planning your COLD CALL campaign? But wait!  Where do you find your target companies?  You can't call every company in the phone book!  And besides,  you only want to target the companies that are most likely to be interested in you.  Is commuting to Moose Jaw really an option?  Geography counts!

The Toronto Public Library provides easy access to a wide variety of company directories and in-depth company information, in both print and electronic formats.

Company Directories

How will company directories help me with my job search?

Directories enable you to:

• Create a resume mailing list.
• Find company contact information for cold calling.
• Find contact information for companies that do not have a website.
• Provide basic information about companies such as number of employees, approximate sales figures, types of product or service the company offers.

Some directories provide brief profiles of the company and links to company websites. This information can help you to prepare for the employment interview.

When should I use company directories?

You will be in a much better position to select the best directory(s)  for your job search, once you have a job search plan. There are literally hundreds of free company directories out there.  Each directory may list thousands of companies. A job search plan helps you to narrow your focus and make your job search more efficient.

Also, company directories tend to be organized by industry, or type of business.  They are not usually organized by occupation or type of job.  Because of this, you need a plan which identifies the industry or type of company you want to target.  Without a plan, you will have difficulty knowing which company directories to choose, and which companies within the directory to target. 

Developing a plan does require some research, but Library staff can help. Research enables you to :

• Identify companies that are most likely to employ someone with your skill-sets and experience.
• Identify growing industries/companies that are most likely to have job openings.
• Determine the best geographical area to target.

For help with your job search plan, click here. Also, consider speaking with a career counsellor at a non-profit community agency such as the TDSB Employment Resource Centres. Click here for a complete list of community agencies that assist job searchers.

Where can I find company directories?

Company directories for a variety of industries are available in print and on the Internet. Some directories list many different types of companies, while others are specific to an particular industry.

• Some licensed company directories are available to you online through the Toronto Public Library’s website. Others are only available within a TPL branch.
• The largest collections of print company directories are available at Toronto Reference Library’s Business Information Centre and North York Central Library’s Business and Urban Affairs Department.
  Staff at both locations can help you to find the directories that are suitable for your job search.
• Free company directories for many industries are available on the Internet.

  To locate these web directories, go to the Toronto Public Library’s website www.torontopubliclibrary.ca and click on the heading Find Good Websites, Our Recommendations:

   
  

  This will take you to the main page of the Virtual Reference Library, a quick subject guide to the Internet for Library users, with a category "Business, Finance and Economics".

  

  Under the heading Business, Finance and Economics, click on Company Directories.

   
   Some directories are arranged by industry and some by location.

  

  Several company directory websites are listed under High Technology Industries. To view a sample directory , select Canada IT: Company Profiles. 

  
  

  
  Directories may differ greatly in the number of companies, amount of information per company and website design. The IT Company Profiles Directory allows users to search for IT companies by industry sector and company name.  Each company profile provides contact information (often with a link to the company website), a brief profile of the company and sometimes news about the company’s activities. 

  Sample All-Purpose Directories

  Canadian Company Capabilities    Large database, hosted by Industry Canada,  that incudes listings for companies of all sizes from most industry sectors.  Company records include links to the company's website, detailed description of the company's products/services, export information and more. See our previous post on this great resource.

  

  
  

  Yellowpages.ca  - This website is helpful for finding businesses of all kinds across Canada, especially small service, consulting, and manufacturing businesses that are not included in most other commercial directories.  You can create customized lists of companies by keyword (business type) and city. Many listings include a link to the company’s website.

  

How do I know if the companies I am contacting have jobs available?

A lot of people ask this question when they are first using company directories for their job search. The answer is that a directory does not tell you if the companies it lists actually have jobs available now. The directory simply gives you contact information for possible employers. The more industry and labour market research you have done before using company directories, the more focused your search will be on companies with the most possibility.

Contacting the companies on your list is often the only way to find out if they are interested in hiring you. Sometimes, only by making that call, can you convince a prospective employer that they need you!

Companies often list job postings on their websites.  In fact, companies typically list more jobs on their own sites than they send out to job boards or websites such as Workopolis or Monster Board.

   

In-Depth Company Information 

Where can I find in-depth information about particular companies?

Company websites - Look for information about what the company does, the "corporate culture," revealed in the type of language and images the company uses to describe itself,  the kinds of "value-added" programs such as training seminars, conferences, etc. that are available to their employees.

Company profile databases - Many free company directories on the Internet offer company profiles and news.  

The Library subscribes to company profile databases such as FP Online and Mergent Online 

The Scott's Ontario Business Directory is currently available on CD-ROM at the Toronto Reference Library and the North York Central Library.  The Scott's Online Canadian Business Directory will be available shortly at all branches.

Magazine & Newspaper Articles - Find articles about the company(s) or industry(s) you are interested in.  Full text magazine, journal and newspaper articles are available through the Toronto Pubic Library's homepage.  These can be accessed from home, through the Library's website.  You will need to enter you Library card and PIN numbers.

SEDAR - Annual reports, financial statements, news releases for Canadian public companies.

General business news - such as TV and radio business report, or the business section of the newspaper.  Look for articles on companies or industries that are growing.  Growth in a company or industry may mean that jobs are, or will be, available.

Network - by attending trade shows, conferences etc. for your chosen industry. Use social networking services such as LinkedIn and Twitter.  See our previous posts on Linkedin and Twitter. Talk to friends, family and colleagues from your previous employment.

Company Directories in Print

The Toronto Reference and North York Central Libraries house the largest collections of print directories. Staff will be happy to help you find the right directory for your job search or business needs. Here are just a few frequently requested directories:

Canadian chemical directory - Annual

Canadian Oil Register - Annual

Directory of retail chains in Canada - Annual 

Financial Services Canada - Annual

Pharma, biopharma & nutraceuticals, Canada - Annual

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