Register a Business in Ontario: Sole Proprietor Name and BN

How do you register a sole proprietorship in Ontario?

Working under your full legal name, you register nothing with Ontario. Any other business name must be registered in the Ontario Business Registry (OBR) before you use it. The government fee is $60, the registration lasts five years, and renewal costs the same (Ontario fees; Business Names Act, ss. 2 and 4).

To file online you need an Ontario.ca Login, an Ontario Business Account, an email address and a debit or credit card (Ontario).

A case stops being simple when your first return with business income is due, when sales pass the GST/HST limit, when a partner joins, when you plan to incorporate, when you are new to Canada, or when you have already used a name you never registered. Each is covered below.

What to gather (O. Reg. 399/21, s. 14; Ontario notice):

• Your full legal name and an address for service
• The business name, and a free OBR search showing it is not already in use
• The address of your principal place of business, in Ontario or, if you have none here, outside Ontario
• A NAICS code for your main activity; the online form suggests one when you type the activity
• An official email address for the business; the company key is sent only there
• Your expected yearly sales, for the GST/HST decision

Do you need to register a sole proprietorship in Ontario if you use your own name?

No. Section 2(2) of the Business Names Act bars an individual from doing business, or identifying the business to the public, under a name other than their own unless that name is registered. Ontario's guidance puts it the same way: register if you are not using your own name.

Ontario reads "your own name" as your full name: its registration notice requires a sole proprietor to register any name other than the individual's full name. So "Jane Lee Design" needs registering (Ontario notice).

Using a business name without registering has two costs under the Act:

• A fine. Using an unregistered name without reasonable cause is an offence, with a fine on conviction of up to $2,000 for an individual (s. 10).
• No lawsuit without leave. You cannot sue in an Ontario court over that business without the court's permission. The court must grant it if the failure was inadvertent, there is no evidence the public was misled, and you comply with the Act when you apply (s. 7). A contract is not void or voidable only because you were unregistered when you made it (s. 7(3)).

How much does it cost to register a business name in Ontario, and how long does it last?

A new registration costs $60, and so does each renewal. Changes and cancellations are free. A registration is effective for five years from the day it is accepted (Ontario fees; Act, s. 4(1.1)).

Renewal opens in your OBR account 6 months before expiry and stays open until 60 days after. Past 60 days you cannot renew: you register the same name again as a new registration and receive a new Business Identification Number and company key (OBR services).

Name rules that trip up new owners (Act, ss. 2(5) and 4(3); O. Reg. 399/21, ss. 3, 7 and 8; Ontario notice):

• Only Roman letters, Arabic numerals and permitted punctuation. A name in Chinese or another script is registered as a translation in Roman letters; you may then use the original alongside the registered name.
• No word suggesting a form of organization you are not, so a sole proprietorship cannot use "Limited", "Inc." or "Corporation".
• Another person's name needs that person's written consent (or an heir's, if they died within the last 30 years) and their material interest in the business.

Search the OBR before you register. Registration does not give you exclusive use of the name. If yours is the same as, or deceptively similar to, a name someone else registered, or their own name, they can sue you for the damages it caused, and a court that rules for them orders your registration cancelled (Act, s. 6; Ontario notice).

What do you get after registering: a Master Business Licence, BIN and company key?

You get, by email, a Certificate of Registration and a Registration Information record. The certificate replaced the Master Business Licence and shows the name, your BIN and the effective and expiry dates; together the two serve as proof of your business name at a bank (Ontario notice). The registration comes with two numbers:

Ontario confirms the BIN is not the CRA business number, and the regulation requires it on amendments, renewals and cancellations (s. 14(2)). A lost company key can be requested free from the ministry (OBR).

Despite the old name, the registration covers only the name. Some activities also need a federal, provincial or municipal licence or permit; Ontario points to BizPaL, a free online tool, to find them (Ontario).

Does registering a business name create a separate business?

No. A sole proprietorship is an unincorporated business owned by one individual, with no legal status separate from the owner. Its risks reach your personal property, and its profit is taxed as your income on Form T2125 (CRA). Ontario's guidance adds that you are responsible for all debts and losses (Ontario).

The registration records a name; it does not create a new taxpayer or a liability shield. For that, see sole proprietorship or corporation.

Do you need a CRA business number for an Ontario sole proprietorship?

Only when you open a CRA program account. An unincorporated business needs a business number (BN) only when it registers for a program account such as GST/HST or payroll (CRA).

Check first whether you already have one. The CRA lists Ontario among the provinces where you receive a BN when you register or incorporate, and it does not issue a second BN to the same business or legal entity; new accounts are added to the existing one (CRA). You may find it by signing in to your Ontario Business Account (CRA).

To get a BN or add an account, use Business Registration Online. Most new registrations must be made online since November 3, 2025 (CRA), and since July 14, 2026 the service opens only through a CRA account or a Sign-In Partner; the provincial sign-in option is for British Columbia and Alberta only. If you have never filed a Canadian return (as with many newcomers), have not filed in the last two years, or cannot meet the CRA account requirements, the CRA says to use Form RC1 instead (CRA). Residents register with their SIN; non-residents use a separate route.

When must an Ontario sole proprietor register for GST/HST?

Registration becomes mandatory once your taxable sales pass $30,000 in one calendar quarter or over four consecutive quarters; you may register earlier by choice (CRA). Ontario has no separate provincial sales tax: it uses the HST, which the CRA runs, so there is one sales tax account (CRA rates).

The timing rules, and what to do if you passed the limit without registering, are in when to register for GST/HST.

What does an Ontario sole proprietor file at tax time?

You file Form T2125 with your own T1 return, one T2125 for each business (T4002, Chapter 2). Self-employed people generally use a December 31 year-end (T4002, Chapter 1); another year-end needs an election on Form T1139, filed with your return for the business's first year by its due date (Income Tax Act, s. 249.1(4)).

The dates come from the CRA calendar. For CPP rates and the tax on the profit, see how self-employed income is taxed; for when instalments start, tax instalment reminders; for the expense lines, self-employed expense lines; for records, setting up books for a new business.

Can one sole proprietor run several business names in Ontario?

Yes, but each name other than your own must be registered (Act, s. 2(2)), and each registration carries its own fee and five-year term.

For tax, you stay one person:

• Income tax: a separate T2125 and separate records for each business (T4002).
• Business number: one BN for you as a legal entity, with accounts added to it (CRA).
• GST/HST: one registration in your name covers every trade name, and the small supplier test uses the sales of all your businesses combined (GST/HST Memorandum 2-1), plus the sales of associates such as a corporation you control (Excise Tax Act, s. 148 and s. 127).

What must you update in the Ontario Business Registry, and how fast?

Report any change to registered information within 15 days, by filing an amended registration in the OBR; there is no fee (Act, s. 4(4); OBR). That covers the details the registration holds, such as your place of business, your address for service and your activity code (O. Reg. 399/21, s. 14). A new official business email is reported the same way. A new business name is not an amendment: it needs a new registration and fee (Ontario notice).

Not filing a change is an offence under the same section as trading unregistered, and it also triggers the court bar in section 7. When you stop using the name, cancel the registration; cancelling is free (OBR services).

What changes if a partner joins or you incorporate?

Each one changes who the registrant and the taxpayer are, so neither is an update to your existing registration.

A partner joins. The partners must register the partnership's firm name together, unless the name is made up of the partners' own names (Act, s. 2(3)–(4)). The CRA treats this as a change in legal status: you call the CRA, and in most cases close the existing BN and accounts and register new ones (CRA). See partnership or corporation and a general partnership's first-year return.

You incorporate. The corporation is a new legal person. Incorporating in Ontario registers a new BN for it automatically, but GST/HST and payroll accounts on your old BN are not moved to it; you register them again (CRA). If the corporation trades under your old business name, the corporation must register that name itself (Act, s. 2(1)). See how to incorporate in Ontario and the sole proprietor to corporation checklist.

Example

These examples are illustrative; figures are in Canadian dollars.

A Toronto designer under her own name

A designer invoices as "Jane Lee", her legal name. She files nothing with the OBR and pays no fee. First-year sales are C$22,000, under the C$30,000 GST/HST limit, so she opens no CRA program account. She files her T1 with Form T2125 by June 15 and pays any balance by April 30.

The same designer trading as "Lee Studio"

• Year 1: She registers "Lee Studio" in the OBR for C$60 before her first invoice under that name. She receives a Certificate of Registration, a BIN and a company key.
• Year 2: Her sales pass C$30,000 over four consecutive calendar quarters, but never in one quarter. She stops being a small supplier at the end of the month after that quarter and must be registered by her first sale after that. She checks her Ontario account for a BN first, then adds the GST/HST account through Business Registration Online, and charges HST from that sale.
• Year 6: The registration reaches five years. She renews online for C$60 within the window, keeping the same BIN.

An Ottawa tutor with a big first year

A tutor nets C$80,000 in year one, with no tax withheld. She pays both CPP shares on her T1, and her income tax alone, not counting CPP, is well over C$3,000. If it is over C$3,000 again in year two, she may have to pay instalments that year, and the CRA usually sends a reminder with an amount.

Different for you?

• Your first T2125 is coming: see self-employed expense lines and get individual and self-employed tax help.
• Your sales passed the GST/HST limit without registering: see when to register for GST/HST and get individual and self-employed tax help.
• You have already used a business name you never registered: get business formation help to put the registration in order.
• A partner is joining: see a general partnership's first-year return and get individual and self-employed tax help.
• You are deciding whether to incorporate: compare sole proprietorship or corporation, then use the sole proprietor to corporation checklist with business formation help.
• You are new to Canada: see your first year as a Canadian tax resident and get cross-border tax help.
• Your books are not set up yet: see setting up books for a new business and bookkeeping.
• The CRA sent an instalment reminder: see tax instalment reminders.
• You are starting in British Columbia or Alberta: see registering in BC or registering in Alberta.