PPSA searches, in plain language, for credit managers

The Personal Property Security Act registries are the provincial systems where lenders record a security interest in a business's assets. A registration is a public notice that somebody has a claim on equipment, inventory or receivables.

What a search tells you

• Who has already registered a security interest against the business.
• When each registration was made, and against what category of collateral.
• Whether a general security agreement covers substantially all assets — which is the one that matters most to an unsecured supplier.

What it does not tell you

• How much is actually owed. A registration shows a claim exists, not its current balance.
• Whether the business is paying that lender on time.
• Anything about unsecured creditors, including other suppliers.

Registrations are provincial. A business operating in three provinces may have registrations in all three, and a single-province search will miss them.

When it is worth running

For a modest limit on a well-referenced account, a PPSA search is usually not proportionate. It earns its place when the exposure is significant, when the customer's assets are the realistic source of recovery, or when you are considering taking security yourself. In equipment rental, where an asset physically leaves your control, it is close to essential.