NUANS Report Ontario: How to Order One and File It

If you are incorporating a named corporation in Ontario, you need a NUANS report, and not just any NUANS report. Ontario accepts only an Ontario-biased report, dated no more than 90 days before the articles are filed, ordered from a private search provider. The province does not run the search for you, and it will not accept a federally biased report in its place.

This guide is the Ontario-specific version of the NUANS process, written for founders incorporating their own company and for the law clerks and corporate assistants who order these reports every week. It covers which Ontario filings need a report, how to order one, what you actually enter on the Ontario Business Registry, and the timing rules that cause most re-orders.

What an Ontario NUANS report is

NUANS (Newly Upgraded Automated Name Search) is a federal database of Canadian corporate names, business names and trademarks, administered by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada. A NUANS name search compares your proposed name against those records and returns a report listing the closest existing names.

Every NUANS report draws on the same national data, but each one is run for a particular jurisdiction. An Ontario-biased (Ontario's notices also say "weighted") report gives priority to the names that matter most for an Ontario filing. Ontario's incorporation notice is blunt about the alternative: "A Canada (federal) biased Nuans name search is not acceptable." If the report header does not say Ontario, it cannot support an Ontario filing.

Ontario also does not sell the report. Its notice states that the report "must be obtained from a private name search company" and that "the Ministry does not provide this search." In practice that means a registered NUANS search house, or a service such as Korporex that orders the report for you.

Ontario does not check your name for you

This is the single most important difference between an Ontario and a federal incorporation, and it is the reason the report matters more in Ontario than anywhere else. Federally, a Corporations Canada examiner reviews the proposed name before it is granted. Ontario does not. In the province's own words: "The Ministry does not review proposed corporate names for similarity to any other name."

Responsibility sits with the incorporators. Ontario's notice says it is the applicant's responsibility to check the search report for similar or identical names and to obtain any consent that may be required, and that a corporation that acquires a name similar to another may be the subject of a names hearing under section 12 of the Business Corporations Act, or a lawsuit.

If you have never worked through one, our guide on how to read a NUANS report explains the ranked list, the source codes, and how to tell a serious conflict from background noise.

Which Ontario filings need a NUANS report

Incorporation is the most common reason to order an Ontario report, but it is not the only one. Ontario's filing notices set out the following:

Two of those are worth a second look. Changing the name of an existing corporation is a name change by articles of amendment, and it needs a fresh report for the new name. A revival only needs a report when the corporation has been dissolved for 10 years or more, which catches out people who assume every revival needs one.

How to order a NUANS report in Ontario, step by step

• Screen the name for free first. Search the Ontario Business Registry (Ontario.ca/BusinessRegistry), which Ontario itself suggests before you order a report, and the Canadian Trademarks Database. If an identical name in your industry turns up, you have saved the cost of a report.
• Settle the exact name, legal element included. Ontario requires the name on the articles to be identical to the name searched in NUANS and to contain a legal element: Limited, Limitée, Incorporated, Incorporée, Corporation, or the abbreviations Ltd., Ltée, Inc. or Corp.
• Identify the distinctive element. NUANS weights the distinctive part of the name, not the descriptive words. In "Maple Ridge Logistics Inc." the search is effectively a search on "Maple Ridge."
• Decide on English, French or both. Each form of the name needs its own search, unless the English and French forms are identical and only the legal element is translated.
• Order an Ontario-biased report. Ask for Ontario as the jurisdiction. Putting two or three candidate names on the same order costs far less time than discovering conflicts one at a time.
• Check the report header. Confirm the jurisdiction says Ontario, the name is spelled exactly as you will file it, and note the report date and reference number.
• File within 90 days. Enter the reference number, the name searched and the report date on the articles, and keep the report with the corporation's records.

What you enter on the Ontario Business Registry

You do not upload the report. When you incorporate through the Ontario Business Registry, you are asked for three things: the NUANS report reference number, the proposed name searched, and the date of the search report. Ontario's notice states that "the Ministry will retrieve the report directly" using that information.

The report itself stays with you. Ontario requires it to be kept at the corporation's registered office, and the instructions for the paper articles say plainly: "Please do not send it with the form." Most firms file it in the minute book alongside the certificate and articles, which is where anyone reviewing the corporation's records later will look for it.

The 90-day rule, and how it catches people out

An Ontario NUANS report "cannot be dated more than 90 days prior to the filing of the articles." Ontario's own example: articles received on November 28 could be supported by a report dated as early as August 30, but not earlier. The clock runs from the date printed on the report, not from the day you paid for it or downloaded it.

Three details turn that simple rule into the most common reason for a second report:

• The report must still be valid when the articles are endorsed. Ontario warns that if the report expires before endorsement, a valid report must be obtained to complete the filing.
• A future effective date does not buy you time. You can ask for an effective date up to 30 calendar days ahead, but only as long as the NUANS report date is still valid.
• Saving a draft does not stop the clock. The Ontario Business Registry lets you save a draft, but Ontario says it is your responsibility to file time-sensitive documents such as NUANS reports before they expire.

The practical habit is simple: order the report once the share structure, directors and registered office are settled, not when the client first mentions a name, and diarise the expiry the day the report arrives.

English and French names

Ontario lets a corporation have an English name, a French name, a combined English and French name, or equivalent English and French names used separately. A NUANS search is required for each form of the name. The one exception: if the English and French forms are identical and the only difference is that the French form uses the French version of the legal element (Inc. and Incorporée, for example), one search covers both.

Identical names and the legal opinion

An identical name is not automatically fatal in Ontario. The Names and Filings Regulation allows a corporation to acquire an identical name in specific circumstances, but it must then rely on a legal opinion meeting the regulation's requirements, keep it at the registered office, and give the lawyer's contact information when it files. That is a lawyer's call, not a search provider's. Note also that adding or removing punctuation or symbols does not make a name different for these purposes.

Is there a free NUANS search in Ontario?

Not one you can file. There are useful free checks, and they are worth running before you pay for anything:

• The Ontario Business Registry search, for corporations and business names on Ontario's own records.
• Canada's Business Registries search, for federal corporations and participating provinces.
• The Canadian Trademarks Database from the Canadian Intellectual Property Office, for registered and pending trademarks.
• Free "pre-searches" offered by some providers, which give a quick look at obvious conflicts.

None of these produces a NUANS reference number, and none can be entered on Ontario articles. They are triage for shortlisting names. The filed document is always a paid, Ontario-biased NUANS report.

What an Ontario NUANS report costs

There is no government fee for the report itself, because Ontario does not sell it. The price is set by whichever provider runs the search. Korporex charges a flat $39.99 plus HST per proposed name. Separately, Ontario charges $300 to file articles of incorporation. Our guide to the cost to incorporate in Ontario sets out the full picture, and a numbered corporation avoids the name search entirely.

Ontario or federal: which report do you need?

The report follows the jurisdiction you incorporate in, not where you live or do business. An Ontario corporation needs an Ontario-biased report. A federal corporation does not need a separately ordered report to incorporate, because Corporations Canada runs the name search inside its online filing, although a federal report is still required for some filings such as a revival or amalgamation. If you have not chosen yet, compare federal and provincial incorporation first, and see which provinces require NUANS if you are filing outside Ontario, or our Alberta NUANS report guide for Alberta.

For law firms and law clerks

Ontario corporate practices order more Ontario-biased reports than anyone else, usually through the same integrated search platform the firm has used for years. A NUANS report is a self-contained PDF with a reference number, so it does not need to come from the same vendor as your minute books or corporate searches. Korporex takes multiple proposed names on one order at a flat per-name fee, captures the distinctive element as its own field, and returns the reports by email. Our NUANS procurement guide for law firms covers what to compare when you price this out.

Order your Ontario NUANS report

Korporex orders Ontario-biased NUANS reports for incorporations, name changes, amalgamations and every other Ontario filing that needs one, at $39.99 plus HST per name, with no account or membership. Order a NUANS report for one name or several, and if the name clears, Korporex can also file your Ontario incorporation. Korporex is not a law firm and does not advise on whether a name is safe to use; questions about conflicts, consents or identical names should go to a lawyer.

Requirements described here reflect Ontario's published filing notices and regulations as of October 2026. They change from time to time, so confirm current rules with ServiceOntario before you file. Nothing in this guide is legal advice.

Frequently asked questions