Frequently Asked Questions
Not-for-profit Corporations
General information
- What are the benefits of incorporation?
- What are the benefits of incorporating at the federal level?
- What are the advantages of incorporating online?
- What are the steps that have to be followed when incorporating online?
- Where can I get more information about incorporating?
- What kinds of businesses can incorporate under the Canada Business Corporations Act (CBCA)?
- Who can form a corporation?
- Is a lawyer needed to incorporate?
- If I decide to incorporate, what next?
- How long does it take to incorporate a CBCA corporation online?
- Do online documents have to be signed?
- Do I have to get a corporate seal?
- If a company incorporates at the federal level, do they need to register anything with the provinces?
- Do I have to incorporate federally and provincially?
- I am a lawyer: Why can't Corporations Canada provide the advice I am seeking?
- Where can I obtain a copy of the CBCA (or another Act) and its Regulations?
- Can I file with the Director the required financial statements in U.S. GAAP (Generally accepted accountant principles)?
- What percentage of directors must be resident Canadian?
- How can I provide feedback to Corporations Canada?
- Can I subscribe to a mailing list to receive information from Corporations Canada?
- If I register to Corporations Canada's list, will my email address be kept confidential?
- Will I be flooded with emails if I subscribe to this mailing list?
- What is a trade-mark?
- What is National Instrument 45-106?
- What are the effects of National Instrument 45-106 on the CBCA?
- Do I need to make retroactive amendments to my articles in order for my corporation to be considered a private issuer under National Instrument 45-106?
- A corporation subject to a provincial act can make retroactive corrections/amendments to its articles; my corporation is a CBCA corporation, and I would like to make such retroactive corrections/amendments.
How do I proceed?
or
I have been advised to make retroactive corrections to my corporation's articles. How do I proceed? - Can the articles be bilingual?
Corporation Key
- What is a Corporation Key?
- Who should request a Key?
- Why does my corporation need a Corporation Key?
- Does the Corporation Key replace the Strategis Login that we used previously when logging into the Corporations Canada system?
- Which online transactions require a Corporation Key?
- When does my corporation need a Corporation Key?
- How does my corporation obtain a Corporation Key?
- Is there a fee?
- Where do I send the request?
- How will we receive our key?
- What if our registered office address is out of date?
- How long does it take to process a request for a Corporation Key?
- How do I use the Corporation Key?
- What do we do if the Corporation Key is misplaced?
- Should access to the Corporation Key be restricted?
- What if a law firm (or other entity) is listed as the registered office address for my corporation?
- How do I find out what address Corporations Canada has on file for my corporation's registered office?
Sole Proprietor / Partnership
- Is it better to incorporate or to register (as a sole proprietor/partnership) one's business?
- Where may I register a sole proprietorship or partnership?
Corporate Name
- How do I choose a name for my corporation?
- What is a NUANS® name search report?
- Where can I obtain a NUANS® name search for my proposed corporate name?
- How can I protect my corporate name?
Fees
- How much does it cost to incorporate?
- How much does transaction X cost?
- Why are online transactions less expensive than regular transactions?
- Is it safe to pay fees online?
Compliance
- What could happen to a corporation if there are no directors (i.e., it is directorless)?
- I have just resigned from the board of directors of a corporation, can I sign and file the required Form 6 (Changes Regarding Directors)?
- What is the deadline for filing your first Annual Return (Form 22)?
- Can a corporation have a P.O. Box (Postal Office Box) as the Registered Office address?
- Can a corporation be a director on the Board of Directors?
- Can a corporation incorporate another corporation?
- What are the penalties for filing forms late?
(i.e. the Annual Return (Form 22), Change of Registered Office Address (Form 3) and Changes Regarding Directors (Form 6)) - Is the annual return the same as my tax return?
- Who can sign the forms 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 and 22?
Technical Information
- I received an email from Corporations Canada in Apple Mail and there are no attachments / I cannot read the attachments:
- I don’t know where/how to access my browser-based email:
- My email is provided by the company I work for:
- I don’t have the ability to check my email through my internet browser, or the attachments still don’t work when viewing the email in my browser:
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