Cost to Incorporate in Canada: Fees by Province, Yearly Upkeep

How much does it cost to incorporate in Canada?

The government fee to incorporate is a few hundred dollars, paid once:

Three things make the total less simple than the table:

• A federal corporation also registers in each province where it does business. Ontario charges no fee for that; BC, Alberta and Quebec each charge one.
• Alberta has no self-serve route. The registry agent sets its own charge on top of the government fee.
• The yearly cost is mostly not government fees. Every corporation files a T2 and keeps books each year, and may need payroll if the owner takes a salary; one in Quebec or Alberta may also file a provincial corporate return. That work is priced by how much there is to do; see T2 fees and quotes.

Gather before you price it: the provinces you will work in, whether you want a word name or a number, how many owners there are, and whether you will pay yourself a salary.

Do I need to pay for a NUANS name search?

Only for a word name in Ontario or Alberta. A NUANS report lists existing corporate names, business names and trademarks similar to the one you propose; you buy it from a private name search company, which sets the price. Federally, the name search is built into the online filing, BC uses its own Name Request, Quebec's name reservation is optional, and a numbered company skips the name step everywhere.

Whether a word name is worth it is covered in named or numbered company.

What does a federal corporation pay to register in its province?

Nothing in Ontario. BC, Alberta and Quebec each charge a fee, so a federal corporation working there pays a second start-up fee on top of the federal one. It must register in each province where it carries on business, which typically includes having an address or phone number there or offering products or services there (Corporations Canada):

Registering also brings the province's yearly filing: BC requires an extraprovincial annual report (s. 380), Alberta lists an annual return for extra-provincial corporations, and Quebec charges its annual registration fee to every registered corporation. Registration deadlines, and which route fits your plans, are in federal or provincial incorporation.

What does a lawyer or online service add to the government fee?

Filing yourself adds nothing to the government fee, except in Alberta. A lawyer or online service adds its own fee on top; Ontario's fee table notes that its figures are government fees only and service providers set their own charges (Ontario).

In Alberta, the registry agent catalogue leaves the service charge for incorporation and for each annual return to the registry agent, so ask for the total before filing.

When comparing quotes, check whether the price includes the name report, by-laws, organizing resolutions, issuing the shares, the minute book and registration in your province. What each route leaves for you is covered in incorporate yourself or use a lawyer.

What does a corporation cost each year in government fees?

Yearly registry fees are small, and Ontario charges none for its annual return. Skipping the filing costs more than the fee: Corporations Canada warns that a corporation that does not file its annual return can be dissolved (annual return).

The Quebec fee schedule notes that the annual registration fee is not charged in the year after the year of registration (RE-101). A federal corporation registered in BC, Alberta or Quebec adds that province's yearly filing to its federal one; Ontario has none for it. Due dates for each registry are in corporate annual return.

What does it cost each year to keep a corporation compliant?

Registry fees are fixed and small. The yearly work the law requires has no government price: what it costs depends on how much there is to do.

Whether the yearly work is worth it at your income is covered in sole proprietorship or corporation.

Are incorporation costs tax deductible?

Yes, within a limit. The corporation can deduct incorporation expenses up to $3,000 in total, less any amount another taxpayer deducted for the same incorporation (ITA 20(1)(b)). How to claim it, and what happens to costs above the limit, is in deducting incorporation costs.

What is the cheapest way to incorporate, and what does it leave undone?

The lowest outlay is a numbered company you file yourself, online: no name report and, outside Alberta, no service fee. Which registry costs least depends on the province. A federal corporation pays $200 plus the registration fee of each province where it does business. Ontario charges none, so there the federal fee is the whole start-up cost, against $300 for an Ontario corporation, but the federal corporation pays $12 each year for its annual return. In BC, Alberta and Quebec, the registration fee makes the federal route cost more to start.

The filing creates the corporation; it does not organize it. Under the federal Act, for example:

1. The directors hold a first meeting, where they may make by-laws, authorize issuing shares, appoint officers and set up banking (CBCA s. 104).
2. The corporation keeps its articles, by-laws, minutes, shareholder resolutions and a securities register (CBCA s. 20).
3. It keeps a register of individuals with significant control (CBCA s. 21.1).
4. It sets up its CRA accounts: corporation income tax, GST/HST if it must collect it, and payroll if it is an employer (CRA).

Provincial Acts set their own organizing and record rules. What to finish after a low-cost filing is in after incorporating online and after you incorporate.

Example

These examples are illustrative and use Canadian dollars at the fees listed above.

An Ontario freelancer incorporates provincially

She files a numbered Ontario corporation online herself: C$300, with no NUANS report. Each year after, she files the Ontario annual return at no fee, a T2 and keeps books. If she had wanted a word name, she would first buy an Ontario-biased NUANS report from a private search company. Incorporating federally instead would cost C$200, with the Ontario registration free, then C$12 a year for the federal annual return.

A BC contractor chooses a name or a number

With a word name: C$30 for the Name Request plus C$350 to incorporate, C$380 in all. As a numbered company: C$350. Either way, the annual report costs C$43.39 plus a C$1.50 service fee, C$44.89, each year, plus the T2 and books.

A federal corporation based in Montreal

• Year 1: C$200 to incorporate federally plus C$397 for the Quebec declaration of registration, C$597 in all. Its first T2 and CO-17 follow its first tax year.
• Year 2: a C$12 federal annual return. Quebec charges no annual registration fee the year after registration, but the corporation still files its annual updating declaration, free when on time. It files a T2 with the CRA and a CO-17 with Revenu Québec.
• Year 3 on: the C$12 federal annual return plus the Quebec annual registration fee (C$106 at its current rate), and both corporate tax returns every year.

Different for you?

• You will work in more than one province, or you are choosing federal or provincial: compare the start-up and yearly fees in federal or provincial incorporation, and get help setting up the corporation.
• You operate in Quebec: two registrations for a federal corporation, and two tax returns every year; see Quebec year-end costs and how to incorporate in Quebec, or get help with both corporate returns.
• You have partners, several share classes, or a business to move into the corporation: see incorporate yourself or use a lawyer and help setting up the corporation.
• You plan a holding company as well: each corporation pays its own registry fees, files its own T2 and keeps its own books every year; see setting up a holding company and help setting up the corporation.
• You already filed online and the organizing steps were never done: start with after incorporating online.
• You want to budget the yearly T2 and books: see T2 fees and quotes and monthly bookkeeping fees, or bookkeeping for a corporation and help with the corporate return.
• You are not sure incorporating pays off yet: see sole proprietorship or corporation.
• You live outside Canada or are new to Canada: the corporation needs a registered office in Canada (for a federal one, CBCA s. 19); see incorporating in Canada from abroad, a Canadian company for a China-resident founder or incorporating as a newcomer or non-resident.