How to Incorporate in Quebec: REQ, NEQ, Cost and Two Tax Returns

How do you incorporate in Quebec?

File articles of incorporation (statuts de constitution) under Quebec's Business Corporations Act (CQLR c. S-31.1) with the Registraire des entreprises (REQ), and pay $397 at regular service or $595.50 at priority service (RE-101-T fees). Once the request is complete and paid, the Registraire issues a certificate of constitution, constitutes the corporation and registers it under a Québec enterprise number, the NEQ (Québec.ca).

Three duties follow:

• The initial declaration to the register, sent within 48 hours of the articles, or within 60 days if the articles go in with the head office notice and list of directors.
• Two income tax returns every year: the federal T2 to the CRA and the CO-17 to Revenu Québec.
• An annual updating declaration every year, even when nothing changed.

A case stops being simple when a running sole proprietorship moves into the corporation, a founder lives outside Canada, family members will own shares, or the owner is the only person working in the corporation, because Quebec's small business rate depends on employees' paid hours (below). The articles are hard to undo: once they are deposited in the register, only a court judgment can annul the incorporation; ending the corporation later means dissolving it (Québec.ca).

Gather before you file:

• The name you want and any version in another language, or a decision to take a numbered name.
• The share classes and their rights, and any limits on transferring shares.
• The number of directors, fixed or as a minimum and maximum.
• Each founder's full name and home address; each founder signs.
• Each director's name, home address, date of birth and a copy of valid government-issued identification.
• The head office address, the two main activities and the number of employees in Quebec.
• Each ultimate beneficiary: every individual who directly or indirectly holds or controls 25% or more of the votes or of the value of the shares, including through a holding company, or controls the corporation in fact (IN-914).

Quebec or federal incorporation: which fits?

For a business that will operate mainly in Quebec, a Quebec corporation needs no second registration: it is registered in Quebec automatically when it is constituted (Québec.ca). A federal corporation that has its domicile or carries on an activity in Quebec must also file a declaration of registration with the Registraire within 60 days of starting activities in Quebec (Québec.ca), which costs $397 at regular service (RE-101-T) on top of the $200 federal online fee (Corporations Canada). The choice does not remove the Quebec tax return: Quebec administers its own corporate income tax (CRA), so a corporation with an establishment in Quebec generally files a CO-17 however it was incorporated. For name protection across Canada, operating in other provinces and the full comparison, see Federal or provincial incorporation.

What do you file with the Registraire des entreprises?

You file the articles online, with either the initial declaration or a notice of the head office address and list of directors. No separate declaration of registration is needed: a corporation constituted in Quebec is registered by the Registraire on constitution (Québec.ca).

1. Choose a name or a number. Propose a name, or ask for a numbered name made of a number, the word Québec and "inc." A proposed name must comply with the Charter of the French Language and end in s.a., inc. or ltée unless it includes "société par actions" or "compagnie"; the articles can add versions in other languages for use outside Quebec. It goes in with a name declaration, in which a founder confirms reasonable steps were taken to check the name complies with the law. A numbered name needs neither. A name reservation is optional, costs $27 at regular service and lasts 90 days (RE-300.G). See Named or numbered company.
2. Complete the articles. They set the share capital, any limits on share transfers, the number of directors, any limits on activities and the founders. Without other terms, the articles create one class of unlimited shares without par value that carry the vote, dividends and the remaining property on winding up. The articles can ask for a certificate date later than the day the Registraire receives them (RE-300.G). For share design, see Share classes when you incorporate.
3. Pick the route for the initial declaration. When you file the articles online, choose one of two options. With the initial declaration option, you must send the initial declaration within 48 hours of sending the articles. With the notice of head office address and list of directors instead, you have 60 days to send it (Québec.ca).
4. Pay and file. The Registraire issues the certificate, assigns the NEQ and deposits the articles in the register (Québec.ca).

A Quebec corporation does not receive a CRA business number when it incorporates; it registers for one separately (CRA). The CRA and Revenu Québec accounts to open next are in After you incorporate; the records to keep from day one are in Minute book for a new corporation.

How much does it cost to incorporate in Quebec, and how long does it take?

The government fee is $397, and the Registraire aims to process articles in 2 business days at regular service or 1 at priority (Registraire service statement). Those times exclude delivery, and an incomplete request, details that differ from the register or identity details that are hard to verify can add time.

Registraire fees are not taxable (RE-101-T). Professional fees and the cost in other provinces are in Cost to incorporate in Canada and Incorporate yourself or use a lawyer.

What is the initial declaration, and when is it due?

The initial declaration puts the new corporation's details in the public enterprise register; every constituted business corporation must file it after its articles are deposited (Québec.ca). It is due within 48 hours of the articles on the first route, or within 60 days of registration on the second. It is free at regular service within that window; filed late, it costs $106, and not filing it when required exposes the corporation to administrative and penal sanctions.

The declaration covers (RE-200.G):

• The head office address and any other names used in Quebec.
• The directors, and officers who are not directors.
• The three shareholders with the most votes.
• The ultimate beneficiaries.
• The two main activities, the number of employees in Quebec and each establishment in Quebec. With 5 to 24 employees, it also states the share of them who cannot communicate in French at work.

Dates of birth are not published, and a person who declares a professional address keeps their home address off the public register (transparency summary).

What is the NEQ, and where will you use it?

The NEQ is a ten-digit Québec enterprise number the Registraire assigns on registration; the corporation keeps it for life, and it cannot be transferred to another business (RE-200.G). The corporation uses it to identify itself to the Registraire and to other Quebec bodies such as Revenu Québec and the CNESST, and anyone can look the corporation up by it in the public register (Québec.ca).

The NEQ is not a CRA business number. The T2, payroll with the CRA and federal accounts use the business number the corporation registers for separately (CRA).

Why does a Quebec corporation file two income tax returns?

A Quebec corporation files two returns because Quebec runs its own corporate income tax: the CRA administers provincial corporate tax for every province except Quebec and Alberta (CRA). Every resident corporation also files a T2 every tax year, even when no tax is payable (CRA).

A year ending March 31 has a T2 due September 30 (CRA). Tax is payable earlier than the filing date; the first year's length and due dates are in First corporate tax year.

Sales tax follows the same split. A business physically located in Quebec registers and files GST returns with Revenu Québec, not the CRA (CRA); QST rules are in Doing business in Quebec from another province. What the yearly Quebec filings cost to prepare is in Quebec corporation accounting cost.

What does a Quebec corporation file with the register every year?

Every year from the year after its registration, the corporation files an annual updating declaration, even with no changes, and pays an annual registration fee starting the second year after the year of registration (Québec.ca; RE-101-T).

When the register is accurate, tick the box on line 39 of the CO-17 to file the annual updating declaration with the return. If anything must change, file the declaration online in My Office during the period. The corporation's register file shows when its period ends (Québec.ca).

Missing two annual updating declarations in a row can get the registration struck off, and striking off dissolves a corporation constituted in Quebec (Québec.ca). See Reviving a dissolved corporation.

What changes must you report during the year, and how fast?

A change after the annual updating declaration needs a current updating declaration within 30 days of the change (Québec.ca). That covers the details the register holds, such as a director joining or leaving, a new head office address or a new ultimate beneficiary. It is free at regular service (RE-101-T), and each newly elected director must provide a copy of identification (transparency summary). Changing the articles themselves, such as the name or share classes, is a separate certificate of amendment.

Directors can be held liable with the corporation for payroll deductions and GST it fails to remit, unless they took the care a reasonably prudent person would; a claim must start within two years after the person last ceased to be a director (Income Tax Act, s. 227.1; Excise Tax Act, s. 323). QST and Quebec source deductions are in After you incorporate.

Does a one-person Quebec corporation get the small business rate?

Not in full unless it meets a paid-hours test or an activity test. Quebec gives its full small business deduction only to a corporation whose employees were paid for at least 5,500 hours in the year, or whose employees and those of its associated corporations reached that total in the previous year. The deduction shrinks between 5,500 and 5,000 hours and is zero at 5,000 hours or fewer; a corporation with a large enough share of primary or manufacturing activities can qualify through a separate activity test instead (Finances Québec).

Without the deduction, Quebec taxes active business income at the general rate of 11.5% instead of 2.2% for a tax year beginning after April 29, 2026, or 3.2% for one that began on or before that date; the lower rate was announced in Information Bulletin 2026-3. The federal small business rate of 9% has no hours test (CRA), but income from a personal services business, where the owner would otherwise be the client's employee, gets no federal small business deduction (Income Tax Act, s. 125(7); see Personal services business). One person working full time all year falls well short of 5,000 hours. How an owner's own paid hours count, and how a first tax year shorter than twelve months is measured, follow detailed rules in Quebec's Taxation Act that this page does not cover. Whether the lost deduction changes the case for incorporating is in Should I incorporate?.

Example

These examples are illustrative; figures are in Canadian dollars at current Registraire rates.

A designer incorporates in May

• Year 1: She files the articles with the initial declaration at regular service, pays C$397 and pays nothing for the declaration. She picks a December 31 year-end. No annual registration fee applies: the corporation was not registered on January 1.
• Year 2: The first annual updating declaration is due in its period. No annual registration fee applies in the year after registration. The T2 and CO-17 for May to December of year 1 are both due June 30.
• Year 3: The annual updating declaration and an annual registration fee of C$106 are due, and the next T2 and CO-17 are due June 30.

A consultant who works alone

A Canadian-controlled private corporation with no associated corporations has one worker, its owner, paid a salary for about 1,800 hours. After that salary, the corporation earns C$100,000 of active business income in a tax year that began after April 29, 2026. With far fewer than 5,000 paid hours, it gets no Quebec small business deduction: Quebec tax is C$11,500 at 11.5%, rather than C$2,200 at 2.2%. Federal tax at 9% is C$9,000 either way, if its income is not from a personal services business.

A director resigns in September

A director resigns on September 10. The corporation files a current updating declaration by October 10, free at regular service. Its annual updating declaration is still due in its own period.

Different for you?

• You run a sole proprietorship and will move it into the corporation: the order of steps is in Sole proprietor to corporation checklist, and a tax-deferred transfer of assets is in Moving a business into a corporation. Get business formation help.
• A founder lives outside Canada: see Incorporating in Canada from abroad and get business formation help.
• You are still choosing between Quebec and federal, or will operate in other provinces: see Federal or provincial incorporation.
• Your first T2 and CO-17, or the paid-hours test, are coming up: see First corporate tax year and Quebec corporation accounting cost, and get corporate tax help.
• You need books kept from the first month for the T2, CO-17 and GST and QST returns: get bookkeeping help.
• Family members will own shares: see Share classes when you incorporate.
• Annual updating declarations were missed, or the corporation was struck off: see Reviving a dissolved corporation.
• Your business is outside Quebec and sells into it: see Doing business in Quebec from another province.