Congratulations! So you have decided to incorporate your business in Ontario.
Don’t worry this won’t take long, and neither will incorporating your business.
It’s surprisingly quick and easy to form an incorporation!
There are a few things you need to know in advance:
- When forming a corporation in Canada there are two types of ways to register: federal incorporation and provincial incorporation.
- We will be focus solely on incorporating at the federal level using online filing and then registering in Ontario. Please educate yourself on both if you are curious about provincial over federal.
- There are benefits of federal as well as provincial registrations but we prefer federal as it offers protection to your business name across all provinces in Canada.
- Outside of Ontario this option may cost more and why this post is specific to Ontario registration only. (after incorporating federally during the time of this post, registering in Ontario is FREE)
- Federally incorporating then registering in Ontario is less expensive than simply provincially incorporating in Ontario. Note that there is some annual upkeep of a federal incorporation such as filing an annual return.
- Federal Registration is 200.00 dollars (online filing) if you are using a numeric assigned numeric incorporation you do not need to do a name search, if however you are naming your incoporation you will need to do a Nuans search which is 13.80.
- This entire process can be done without lawyer or a web service outside of a government site, you can DIY registering an incorporation in Ontario probably within an hour or maybe even less.
- You can incorporate same day or by following day depending on what time you place your filing.
- It will only cost 213.80 to incorporate federally and register in Ontario.
Let’s Begin.
Step 1 – The Nuans Search
Decide if you are going to go with a named incorporation or assigned numerical incorporation.
If you are going with an assigned numerical incorporation skip ‘Step 1’ and goto ‘Step 2’
If you decide to go with a named incorporation such as My New Business Inc. you will need to do a Nuans search to confirm if your business name is already taken.
Visit this LINK to start your search. This will cost 13.80.
Following your search you will receive a Nuans report in your email momentarily which will verify if your name is taken by either business or trademarks.
In the email from the Nuans report you should also receive a ‘Nuans reservation number’, keep this number as you will need it for the next step.
Step 2 – Incorporate Your Business
It’s now time to incorporate your business!
Visit this LINK to begin, you will see a federal incorporation costs 200.00 to incorporate online
Go ahead and click ‘incorporate’.
If you use an assigned numerical incorporation you will not need to submit a ‘Nuans reservation number’. If you are going with a named use the ‘Nuans reservation number’ in your application.
Fill in the fields to the best of your ability. We cannot provide you this information as this is up to you and how you would like your business structured.
At the end of the federal incorporation you will be given the option to register your business provincially.
Note that for Ontario, the cost to register your business is FREE following your federal incorporating; this is not the case for most provinces.
Finish the application and make the payment.
Step 3 – Waiting for your Incorporation Confirmation Email
‘Step 3’ is the easiest part, waiting.
Simply wait for your request to get processed.
If you filed before 1pm, it should be processed the same day and you will have your incorporated business the same day.
If you filed after 1pm, it should be processed by the following day and you will have your incorporated business the next day.
Once you get your confirmation you are now the proud starter of your very own incorporation. Yay you, we knew you could do it!
Step 4 – You now have an Incorporated Business! Here are some Tips.
Now that you are incorporated make sure you research all the things required to run and manage a responsible incorporation.
Some of the things you should be aware of are noted by Corporations Canada by clicking this LINK.
- Filing your annual return (an annual return is not taxes, a federal incorporation must file an annual return).
- Your business incorporation will need to file taxes (T2) and may need to register for a GST/HST number if it produces more than 30,000 revenue in 4 quarters. You can register for GST/HST at this LINK.
- You will want to keep a minute book which outlines how your incorporation is structured as well as meeting minutes for corporate meetings with directors as well as by-law changes. This can be a simple binder with documents you keep and does not need to be prepared by a lawyer or consultant.
- Keep records of all business revenue and expenses. Anything that has money coming in or going out should be documented. You can use something simple like Sheets to keep these in order.
- Open a corporate account with a bank or credit union.
The above list are just a few suggestions to start/research.
Finally,
Thanks for taking the steps to forming your first corporation in Ontario with us, we know registering for the first time can be daunting.
You did awesome and deserve a rest, but take heed, the journey is just beginning and you can’t afford to ‘Rest On Your Laurels’ just yet. – ROYL Team
Note that things might change by the time you read this article, please note the date of this article.
