Plain-language summary, not legal advice. We wrote this to be read. If anything here is unclear, ask us.
Last updated: October 31, 2026
1. The service
FileSignal collects business licence, permit and registry information that public bodies publish as open data, identifies records that look like new businesses, renewals, changes or closures, and delivers them through a web feed, CSV export, email digests, webhooks and an API (“the service”). Free tools — the weekly signals roundup and the licence checker — are part of the service too. Coverage changes as publishers release or withdraw data; the coverage page shows what's live.
FileSignal is independent and is not affiliated with or endorsed by any government or publisher whose data it uses.
2. Accounts
- You must be at least 18 and using FileSignal for a business purpose.
- Keep your sign-in, API keys and webhook secrets confidential. You're responsible for activity under your account.
- Each seat is for one named person. Don't share seats or API keys outside your organisation.
- Tell us promptly if you think your account or a key has been compromised.
3. Plans, billing and cancellation
- Prices are in Canadian dollars and exclude applicable taxes (HST or GST/PST), which are added to your invoice.
- Plans are billed in advance, monthly or annually. Annual plans are priced at ten months of the monthly rate.
- Plan limits — municipalities, category groups, history, export rows, saved filters, webhooks, API rate and seats — are listed on the pricing page and enforced by the service.
- You can cancel at any time. Monthly plans end at the close of the current month; annual plans at the end of the paid year. Fees already paid are not refunded except where the law requires.
- We may change prices with at least 30 days' notice; changes apply from your next billing period.
- Territory reservations don't create a charge. A territory is held for you only once we have confirmed it in writing and your plan has started.
4. Acceptable use
Your use of the service and of any data from it must follow our acceptable use policy, which forms part of these terms. In short: no spam, comply with CASL, don't use the data to locate or profile individuals, and don't resell it without a data licence.
5. The data and your licence to use it
- Your licence. While your plan is active, we grant you a non-exclusive, non-transferable licence to use data delivered to you for your own organisation's prospecting, sales and internal analysis. Data you exported while your plan was active may continue to be used for those purposes after it ends.
- No redistribution. You may not resell, sublicense, publish or redistribute the data, or use it to build a competing product or train models offered to others, unless you have a separate data licence agreement with us.
- Publisher licences pass through. The underlying information is published under the publishers' open licences (for example, the Open Government Licence – Toronto). Those licences and their attribution requirements apply to you too. Where you display or share data externally — even within the limits above — you must include the attribution listed on our data sources page and must not suggest that the publisher endorses you.
- Our work. FileSignal's software, categorisation, detection results and compilation are ours. Nothing in these terms transfers ownership to you.
- Suppression. If we notify you that a record has been suppressed (for example, at the business's request), you agree to stop using it for outreach.
6. Public data comes with no guarantee
We work hard to detect new businesses accurately, but the data comes from third-party public records that can be incomplete, late, wrong or withdrawn, and our classifications (new, renewal, change, closed; category; residential suppression) are automated and can be mistaken. The service is provided “as is” and “as available”. To the extent the law allows, we disclaim all warranties, including merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and accuracy. Freshness depends on each publisher's schedule; we don't guarantee a delivery time. Verify information before relying on it for anything important.
7. Limitation of liability
To the extent the law allows, FileSignal is not liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential or punitive damages, or for lost profits, revenue, data or goodwill. Our total liability for any claim relating to the service is limited to the fees you paid us in the 12 months before the claim arose (or CA$100 if you use only free features). Nothing here limits liability that can't be limited by law.
8. Your responsibilities
You are responsible for how you use the data, including compliance with Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL), privacy law, the rules of any professional body you belong to, and telemarketing rules such as the National Do Not Call List where they apply. You agree to indemnify FileSignal against claims arising from your breach of these terms or the acceptable use policy.
9. Suspension and termination
We may suspend or close an account that breaches these terms, puts the service or others at risk, or doesn't pay. Where reasonable, we'll warn you first and give you a chance to fix the problem. You may close your account at any time.
10. Changes to these terms
We may update these terms. For material changes we'll give account holders at least 30 days' notice by email. Continuing to use the service after the change means you accept it.
11. Governing law
These terms are governed by the laws of the Province of Ontario and the federal laws of Canada that apply there. The courts of Ontario have exclusive jurisdiction, except that either party may seek urgent injunctive relief anywhere.
12. Contact
Questions about these terms? Contact us.