Registering a business in Ontario is one of those tasks that sounds intimidating and turns out to be mostly paperwork. The harder part is the decision you make before the paperwork: what kind of business you are registering in the first place. Get that right and the rest follows.
Here is the whole path to register a business in Ontario, start to finish.
First, pick your structure
Before you register anything, you need to know what you are registering. In Ontario, most new businesses fall into one of three buckets.
A sole proprietorship is you, operating as a business, under a name that is not your own legal name. It is the simplest and cheapest to set up. The catch is that there is no legal separation between you and the business, so the business's debts are your debts.
A partnership is two or more people doing the same thing together. Same simplicity, same lack of separation, plus the added wrinkle that you can be on the hook for what your partner does.
A corporation is a separate legal entity. It costs more and takes more upkeep, but it puts a wall between your personal assets and the business, and it can be more tax-efficient once you are earning real money.
If you are not sure which one fits, that choice deserves more thought than the registration itself. We cover it in a separate guide on sole proprietorship versus incorporation.
Registering a sole proprietorship or partnership
If you are going with a sole proprietorship or partnership operating under a business name, you register that name through ServiceOntario. This is the Business Name Registration, and it used to be called a Master Business Licence.
You can do it online. You will need the business name you want, your contact details, and a description of what the business does. The registration is valid for five years and then you renew it.
Registering a corporation
Incorporating is a bigger step. You choose first whether to incorporate provincially in Ontario or federally under the Canada Business Corporations Act. Provincial is usually simpler if you plan to operate mainly in Ontario. Federal gives you name protection across the country.
Either way, incorporation involves filing articles of incorporation, choosing your corporation's name (or taking a numbered name), setting up your share structure, and naming your directors. You will also need a NUANS name search if you want a named corporation rather than a numbered one.
This is the stage where doing it yourself can quietly cost you. The share structure and the articles are not just forms. They shape how you can bring in partners, pay yourself, and sell the business later. People often incorporate cheaply online, then pay more a year later to fix a structure that did not anticipate where the business went.
After you register
Whichever route you took, a few things usually come next.
- You get a CRA business number if you do not already have one.
- You register for GST/HST if you expect to cross the $30,000 threshold.
- If you are hiring, you set up a payroll account.
- And if you incorporated, you start keeping a minute book, the corporation's required record of its own decisions.
None of these are urgent on day one, but they pile up if you ignore them, and some carry penalties when missed.
Where Korporex fits
You can register a sole proprietorship yourself in an afternoon through ServiceOntario. To incorporate, Korporex handles Ontario and federal incorporation filings online, including the NUANS name search, the share structure, and the minute book, so you can register and incorporate in one place and have your documents within 24 hours.