How financial professionals can help clients reconnect with unclaimed funds

As a financial professional, your clients count on you to protect their interests, manage risk, and support responsible stewardship. Unclaimed funds may not always be top of mind—but helping clients report or recover these funds is a simple way to support consumer protection and amplify their community impact.

Whether you’re advising a business, a nonprofit, or a public sector organization, here’s what you need to know about BC’s Unclaimed Property Act and how you can support your clients in meeting their obligations—and their goals.

Unclaimed funds are a consumer protection issue

Under the Unclaimed Property Act, organizations that hold unclaimed funds must either:

• manage those funds in full compliance with the legislation, or

• report and transfer them to BC Unclaimed.

When unclaimed funds remain on your books, your clients’ customers are the ones who lose out. Without a central registry, it becomes difficult for people to track down their money, especially if it is being held by more than one organization. Transferring unclaimed funds to BC Unclaimed brings those records together in one secure, searchable place and gives people a fair chance to reclaim what is rightfully theirs.

When funds are reported to BC Unclaimed, they become part of a single, public-facing platform that significantly increases the chances of reunion. As the province’s designated not-for-profit program, BC Unclaimed also uses additional tools and resources to actively search for the rightful owners.

Help your clients reduce liability and improve efficiency

Managing unclaimed funds in-house means maintaining a searchable database, creating adjudication processes, responding to claims, and keeping funds indefinitely available to the owner. There is no time limit. Holders remain liable in perpetuity.

By transferring funds to BC Unclaimed, your client:

• is released from future liability,

• avoids administrative burdens, and

• gains peace of mind through a streamlined, secure process.

For most organizations, reporting is easier than expected, and BC Unclaimed provides support throughout the process to make reporting straightforward.

A simple way to support ESG and social impact goals

Funds that cannot be reunited with their rightful owners are put to work across British Columbia through our partnership with Vancouver Foundation. Since 2003, more than $80 million in unclaimed funds has been put to work in communities across British Columbia, supporting initiatives such as:

• food security,

• mental health services,

• environmental conservation,

• vital community programs, and more.

These are funds with little to no ongoing value to the business, but significant potential for social good.

For companies with ESG or CSR priorities, reporting unclaimed property is a meaningful action that strengthens the communities where they operate. It’s a way to make a difference and one that doesn’t require new funding, just a shift in how they manage existing balances.

For financial professionals, it’s a trusted solution

BC Unclaimed is here to make the process secure, simple, and supported. As a financial advisor, you can guide clients to:

• identify unclaimed funds,

• understand their obligations under the Unclaimed Property Act, and

• understand the benefits of transferring funds to BC Unclaimed.

You can also direct clients to bcunclaimed.ca/submit, where they’ll find clear reporting instructions, compliance guides, and secure options for fund transfer.

Help your clients do what’s good for consumers, business, and BC

Whether you're advising on compliance, reviewing financial records, or supporting year-end reconciliation, now is the time to ask: Are there unclaimed funds your clients still hold?

Encouraging clients to transfer those funds benefits everyone:

• It improves outcomes for consumers.

• It reduces their risk and administrative costs.

• And it strengthens BC communities through shared social investment.

BC Unclaimed operates on the belief that every unclaimed fund has the potential to do good. Help your clients unlock that potential.