Ontario PREC

As per Business Corporations Act., there is no legal requirement to retain a lawyer to incorporate a company. Any person above 18 years old may incorporate a company by himself or herself.

Yes, we do. Our legal team prepare the articles of incorporation, bylaws and minute book. You have option to add a corporate binder as well in next steps.

You can add share certificates, corporate seal, domain name reservation, professional email etc. in next steps.

Yes. You are never hooked up with us unlike some other competitors. We provide you free company key, and any time you can manage the corporation by yourself. If you need ongoing support, you have option to add the annual support package in next steps.

This package includes setting up CRA business number and corporate tax ID for your corporation for free. To run our business effectively, you may require other CRA program accounts such as GST/HST account, payroll account, export import account etc., which can be added to the package in next steps.

A Numbered Company get a random number generated by Service Ontario system followed by "Ontario Ltd./Inc."
For Example: 6745686 Ontario Ltd.
For a Named Company, you can choose a name for your company, and it can be registered with that name. However, your name should be available and must satisfy the name rules.
Deciding on named or numbered corporation depends on the requirement of individuals and on the purpose of incorporation.
Incorporating a Numbered Company is faster and less expensive, but it does not describe the business in any way. It is the right choice if the company's name is not relevant (for example, holding company or a business which doesn’t advertise by a name).
A company with a name is more credible to customers and other businesses associated with it.

Name must be unique, should not be similar to other businesses. Name must, preferably, have the following components:

1. A unique or distinctive word such as made-up word or a person's name.
2. Second part of the name describes the service your business is offering.

Examples of good name ideas are: ABCXYZ Home Renovation, Sarah's Mexican Restaurant, Thunder Bay home renovations.The name must contain a distinctive element followed by a descriptive element. Example: ABCXYZ Manufacturing.
In the above name, 'ABCXYZ' is the distinctive element and 'Manufacturing'.Sample

It is a computerized name search report generated based on a proposed corporate / business name or trade-mark from Government databases listing similar and conflicting names of existing business names and trademarks. To incorporate an Ontario Corporation or a Federal Corporation an appropriate NUANS Report is required.

Businesses in general are not allowed to register with a name which is already taken. A NUANS report lists names which are similar to your proposed name. This helps to determine the availability of a corporate/business name to see any similar or possibly confusing existing corporation names, business names and trademarks. Simply put, you need to make sure that no one else has already registered, incorporated or trademarked the name you would like to use for your business.

Yes. There are 2 different kinds of reports:

• A NUANS report for Federal and a NUANS report for each of the following provinces: Ontario, Alberta & New Brunswick.
• The rest of the Canadian provinces have their own name approval processes and doesn't require a NUANS report. Examples of such jurisdictions are: B.C., Quebec, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Newfoundland & Labrador, PEI, Yukon, they each require a name search report from their respective provincial database and registry and NOT from the NUANS database.

NUANS report is required for all named incorporations. NUANS report is a name search report which doesn't guarantee acceptance of that name by Service Ontario. We, along with the NUANS report do an analysis of the name so that it is acceptable for a corporation's name.

All corporate names must end with a word or abbreviation known as legal suffix. The legal suffixes are for appearance purpose only and each of them has same meaning and significance. So, make your selection based on marketing considerations or personal preferences.

The proposed incorporation date is official registration date for the corporation. It is also called the anniversary date or the date in which the following year, corporation's annual return gets due. Requested date for incorporation cannot be in past date. It must be current date or maximum 30 days in future.

Yes, you can. If you choose a future date, incorporation will take effect on your requested date regardless the requested date is weekday or weekend or holiday.

This is the the product that your business sells to the customers and earns revenue. The selling product can be tangible items such as pens, books, apples (goods) or non-tangible items such as services of barbers, waiters, IT specialists, digital products (services).

The business industry listed here as of North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). You may choose the nearest industry type. If you cannot find any industry relevant enough to your business, you may choose other and write the industry name.

This is the primary and major activity of your business. Please be concise and to the point to avoid delays. You may mention only one activity in single or two words as we have to select the closest activity from the government system.

All Corporations in Ontario need a Physical or street address in the province, it can be rental place or home address.

Yes, this address can be changed later. In many cases when commercial place is not rented yet, residential address is given.

Yes, you have the choice to renew it on an annual basis. Normally, the price remains same.

Usually Director is the Contact Person of the Corporation, it can also be a service provider like an accountant or a lawyer.

There is no specific residency requirement for an Ontario Corporation. A Canadian national or foreign national can be the director(s) of an Ontario Corporation. The latest amendment (July 5, 2021) on Ontario Business Corporation Act has removed the previous residency requirement for an Ontario corporation.

Yes. A director can be added or removed at a later time.

An Incorporator can be an Individual or another Company, usually all Directors are Incorporators.

Officers in a corporation manage the daily activities of the corporation. They can also be part of the board of directors. The common Officers titles are President, Secretary, Treasurer, VP, CEO.

There is no specific rule regarding the titles of officers. You can use any title among that fits the best of the duties of the officer. Almost all corporations have an officer titled ‘President’, which might be useful for the operation of a corporation or when preparing legal contracts/documents.

Unless there is a specific reason for it, same title for more than one officer is not advisable.

Once the corporation is registered, the Articles of Incorporation is also registered with government. The articles of an incorporated business could be changed with proper filing (Articles of Amendment) and fees.

The "Advanced Articles of Incorporation" allows to issue class A common voting share and class B common non-voting shares. If you want to customize common/preferred/voting/non-voting/custom share class names etc., you may choose "set my own text " option. The custom share structure option will be displayed in next steps.

Because a corporation a legal entity by itself and separate from its owners, therefore, it could owned only through its shares. The corporation's assets and stocks are split into pieces and each of these pieces is called share. If a corporation issues 100 shares with $1 each, the total net worth of the corporation is 100x$1=$100.

Most people issue share at $1 price in the beginning.

Yes, you can do so. For the simplicity of incorporation, commonly $1 is set as the initial share price. Eventually, the share price and share numbers could be changed.

Class A common voting share owners have voting rights to change the corporation's policies and rules. Class B common non-voting share owners do not have such rights.

Most People put 1 as Shares, but can be any Number. Share cannot be fraction. If you are the only shareholder then you own 100% of the Shares.

Yes. You can add or remove Shareholder later at anytime.

Total share is calculated by adding up each shareholder's share number. Example: your share is 60, your spouse's share is 40. Then total shares = 60 + 40 = 100. In this case, you hold 60% and spouse holds 40%. If more than one shareholder and you want to assign in percentage, make total share number as 100.

All corporations need a Corporate tax ID (RC 0001) to file taxes. Taxes needs to be filed even if the income is zero(0) dollar for the Year.

If you sell products and services in Canada and collect GST/HST from your Customers, then GST/HST Account Number is Required.

If you hire Employees including yourself, then you need a Payroll Account Number.

If you Import Goods into Canada, then you need an Import Account Number.

If you Export Goods out of Canada, then you need an Export Account Number.

After your company is Registered we can instantly apply for a Domain Name. We do our best to get this Domain Name matching your corporation Name. (example: www.businessname.ca).

Professional Email Address is the one with your Corporation Name in it. (Example: custom@yourbusinessname.ca).

A new company often needs support from legal, accounting and incorporation team. The support services includes guidelines, directions and responding to the notices received from government, CRA, competitors etc. Please note, the support service should not be considered as 'legal advise'. Our lawyers prepares documents as in-house legal counsels and do not represent the clients.

Every corporation has to file its annual return with Government Canada every year. Filing an annual return avoids the potential administrative dissolution of a business.

A Share certificate is a physical document issued on behalf of a corporation which shows the number of shares owned by a Shareholder. A share certificate is also referred to as a stock certificate.

A Corporate Seal is an embossing tool that a Corporation may use to stamp important documents. This Seal bears the Corporation name and Province. Companies use their seal to certify important documents.

Supplies (physical minute book, share certificate, corporate seal) will be shipped by Canada Post (expedited) and you will receive a tracking number in your email. Please note, this address is for shipping of supplies only. Government documents always go to corporation's address.

The Processing Queue includes Incorporation and Emailing the Certificate, Articles and Electronic Minute Book (if Included). The Remaining Process in this Package like Business Number, CRA Programs Accounts Set Up, WSIB Registration, etc. are initiated after incorporation processes.