There’s absolutely undoubtedly that Ontario is the best place to start a company in Canada. It is the largest local economy with near 13 million and developing inhabitants. Additionally, it has the highest per capita income in Canada. The business infrastructure is well established, making the company registration process a lot easier to execute.
When you choose to incorporate a company in Ontario, you must decide whether you want a sole proprietorship, a partnership or a limited liability partnership. Whichever you opt for, I will help you navigate the Ontario business registration procedure in the next few sections.
Naming Your Business in Ontario
I will discuss registering both a sole proprietorship and a company in this section. If you want to run your company as a sole proprietorship you don’t need to formally register your organization name. However, because a corporation you must undergo the formal Ontario business registration procedure.
As a sole proprietorship, if you are going to name your business anything aside from your name, you will have to go through the formal Ontario business registration process. A company’ name is registered with the Companies Branch of the Ministry of Consumer and Business Services.
As a company, you have to make a choice whether you want to integrate in Ontario only or if you want to incorporate in Canada. If you want the latter, you will need to federally feature which establishes you as a company in all of Canada. For our purposes however, I will concentrate on Ontario company registration only, which is referred to as a provincial incorporation that establishes and protects your company’ name in Ontario and Ontario only.
WARNING: Be very careful when choosing a name for your enterprise. Regardless of what business type you start, you can’t use any names that resemble any relationship with any thing of the Canadian Government, a state, burrough, the Crown or any thing associated with it, any municipality or any other form of legal entity. The only exceptions to that are explicit permissions obtained from the entity whose name has been used itself.
Assessing Your Company Name
Even though the Ontario company registration authorities will tell you if you have a business name equivalent to another present one, they won’t inform you if your name is much like an existing one. Only you can do it by searching the business name database. Why is this important? This measure is important so that you are not sued by an current company for infringement of trademark.
Searches can be conducted for $12 or less, online or personally by visiting the Companies Branch that is situated in 375 University Avenue in Toronto. In addition, you need to go through the Electronic Corporate Index to learn about the variants of your contemplated business name. You can even conduct your search online through a few online resources that are supported by the Ministry of Consumer and Business Services. Two sources are the following:
OnCorp Direct Inc..
Cyberbahn Inc..
If you are registering for a company in Ontario, you must submit a copy of a NUANS report with your registration software. A NUANS report is a New Upgraded Automated Name Search report that helps guarantee you aren’t overstepping legal boundaries when naming your business.
The NUANS is a nation wide business name registry, which will demonstrate all company business names in the nation that resemble your chosen title (similar titles). It’s possible to obtain a NUANS report through a “Searcher of Records” through one of several private providers that can be found in the yellow pages or on the internet.
Filing for Your Company Name – What Do You Want?
Similar to every other legal procedure, the Ontario business registration procedure entails some paperwork. If you are integrating an organization, you must finish the content of incorporation that is Form 1 set under the company Corporations Act.
These forms are available online, in shops in addition to through attorneys. This is a rather tedious process. An easier procedure is to file online through Cyberbahn Inc. or OnCorp Direct Inc. for a faster process.
As you can imagine, you want all your personal as well as business details when filing out the forms. You need the name of your business, speech, the description of the business in addition to your private information where you can be corresponded with (send and receive mail).
Remember you have to have a physical address and not a PO Box. If you have partners, you must include all their information as well unless you’ve got more than 10.
Where to File Your Business Name
One reason that the Ontario business registration process is really much easier to execute is the number of access points that are available to you. For instance, you may file your business incorporation paperwork in one of many places.
You can register with the public office of the Companies Branch. You can do it via mail or in person. You can find these forms from the office directly or by a Land Registry Office within the province. You can get your company registered for under $100 regardless of which system you choose (usually $80 in person and $60 online).
The most important difference I could think of between registering in person or via email is the time it requires for you to get your Master Business License, that is essentially the proof of your business’ registration. You get this immediately when you enroll in person, whereas you obtain it in 8 weeks if you enroll through mail. Online registration requires a few days I believe.
Getting Your Business Permit
Once you’ve registered your business name, you’ll require the various licenses and registrations specific to your company operations. These are particular to the nature of your business enterprise, and need to be obtained and preserved along with complying with your Province’s and Canada’s laws.
For example, if you employ a workforce, you may need Worker’s Compensation Insurance. This is only one example. Like I said, the licenses you’ll need are particular to the essence of your company. To understand what permits and registrations are applicable to you, visit the Government’s BizPal website which could help you determine what you need.
The Ontario Business Registration
After you have your business name registered, you must register for incorporation next. You will require a complete set of your Articles of Incorporation, a current NUANS report that shows which names you searched for, a covering letter as well as the fee. The fee, if filed in person at the Companies Branch is $360. Electronically, the fee is just $300.
But remember, each of the above steps have to be completed before you start the business registration procedure.
Registration and Licenses
The Ontario business registration is good for five years, and it needs to be renewed. The tricky part is that the authorities don’t send reminders as business registration is the operator or the organization’s responsibility.
Additional Important Information
There are a couple of critical things in addition to registering your business in Ontario that I want you to eliminate you.
Do not forget that you must re enroll a company after it has undergone change in ownership (purchase / sell). A fee must be paid upon registration once more.
It is also important to note that just certified or chartered accountants and practicing lawyers can set a Limited Liability Partnership.
Additionally it is very important to reiterate that, as I mentioned previously, you can’t use a business name which resembles any legal entity / Government entity. When in doubt, always double check and acquire exclusive permission if you have to. Failure to do this may lead to fines and penalties of types.
The Ontario Business Names Act can impose a fine up to $2,000 for individuals and up to $25,000 for corporations if you do not enroll your business or register it with one of the restricted names such as that with similarity using a Government entity.
Finally, you can get in touch with the Ministry of Government services via their Companies and Personal Property Security Branch for more information on Ontario business registration issues. You can reach them in -LRB-416-RRB- 314-9151 or even 1-800-565-1921. You can also write to them at:
Companies and Personal Property Security Branch Ministry of Government and Consumer Services 393 University Ave., Suite 200 Toronto ON M5G 2M2