Research Guides: Researching a Company, Product, Service, or Industry: Company Research

LLC Resources

To find information on a specific company begin your search using these databases:

Business Source Complete (EBSCO)
Magazine and journal articles on all aspects of business and management. Also includes company and industry profiles, SWOT analyses and market, country and product reports.

Canadian NewsStand (PROQUEST)
Full text access to major Canadian newspapers, including the Globe and Mail, the National Post, and the Toronto Star.
CBCA Business (PROQUEST)
Full text access to Canadian magazines and journals on business, management and related topics.
IBISWorld
IBISWorld produces and publishes over 400 Canadian and 1,300 US Industry Reports at the 5-digit level of the NAICS code. IBISWorld research reports contain trends, statistics & analysis on market size, market share of major companies and industry growth rates. Major market segments are identified and also those key external forces affecting supply and demand within the industry. Performance analysis includes emerging industry trends as well as recent production performance.
Nexis Uni (+ QuickLaw)
Access to 5,600 news, business, legal, medical and reference sources. Now includes QuickLaw with access to Canadian Court cases, tribunals and arbitration decisions.
Passport GMID (Euromonitor)
This international database provides access to market reports that analyze consumer and service industries across 80 countries. Also includes company profiles. Industries covered include Apparel, Consumer Finance, Consumer Foodservice and Travel & Tourism.
Scott’s Ontario Directories
Search company information on 75,000 Ontario companies, by product type, industry classification number, company name, geographic and demographic characteristics.
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Researching a Company

Are you researching a company? Do you want to know about their history, competition or fiscal year? If so, try using these resources to help you find information on your chosen company:

Use the company's website! Most companies provide the public with plenty of information on their website including: their mission, values, annual reports, and corporate information.

Try to find a Company profile using Business Source Complete. ***Remember to limit your search results to company profiles (located on the right hand side of the page). See the video above for more information on searching for company profiles in Business Source Complete.

Try searching for a SWOT analysis of your company. A SWOT analysis measures the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats of your organization. To search for a report in Business Source Complete simply use the name of your company and SWOT as keywords.
Sometimes you will have to try a few different searches to find what you are looking for. The better you know and understand your company or industry, the more luck you may have. If you search for TD Bank, for example, you may not find anything...but, there is a SWOT analysis for TD, it is listed under Toronto-Dominion Bank.

If you can't find a company report/profile, try looking for articles! A basic search for your company is the best place to start. Try using any of our recommended databases on the left.

Try using Hoover’s Company Records, which provides in-depth records of public and private companies worldwide, and overviews of the key industries in which those companies operate (Available through Lexis-Nexis).

Standard & Poor's Corporate Descriptions & Register is another recommended source that provides strategic and financial information on more than 10,000 publicly-held companies (Also available through Lexis-Nexis).

Our advice: have patience, keep looking, ask for help!

How to Find an Annual Report

To find specific information on a company try searching for their annual reports. Annual reports outline a company’s financial situation and provide you with an overall understanding of the company’s year. The first place you should search for an annual report is the company's website itself. However, there are many resources you can consult to find a company's financials:

Google - Try a search for your company name AND annual report!
Globe Investor - Look up a company to find the latest investing news and analysis, including: Summaries, Charts, Financials, Analyst Ratings, and Competitors.
Company Spotlight - Access to current, free annual reports in pdf.
SEDAR - System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval - the electronic filing system for the disclosure documents of public companies and mutual funds across Canada. If your company is Canadian and publicly traded, you should find information here. Find your company profile, then click on the "VIEW this Public Company's Documents" link.
EDGAR - Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval system - database of U.S. corporate information of companies who are required by law to file forms with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Investment Reports

Investment reports provide equity evaluations and buy/sell recommendations as well as key company financials and financial forecasts for companies and industries.

Before searching for an investment report find your company's ticker symbol (try using Bloomberg) and then conduct a search on the ticker symbol using General Business File (Gale).

Here is our step-by-step guide to finding Investment Reports: Find Investment Reports - How To

This document is available in alternative formats upon request. If you experience any barriers to access, please contact us.

Using LexisNexis and Scott's Directories

Lexis-Nexis and Scott's Ontario Directories are two highly recommended databases that will help you search for company information. Try using these databases in addition to Business Source Complete in order to have a more rounded understanding of the business you are researching.

These documents are available in alternative formats upon request. If you experience any barriers to access, please contact us.