Guides & Articles for Canadian Entrepreneurs
Plain-language guides on incorporation, compliance, and corporate maintenance to help you make informed decisions about your business.
Incorporation Guides
Step-by-step guides to incorporating your business federally or provincially in Canada.
Compliance & Maintenance
How to keep your corporation in good standing: annual returns, record-keeping, and more.
Jurisdiction Comparisons
Federal vs. provincial, and starting a business in Ontario: understand the differences before you choose.
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Incorporation Guides
How to Register a Business in Ontario
Registering a business in Ontario is mostly paperwork. The harder part is choosing your structure first. Here is the whole path, start to finish.
Incorporation Guides
Sole Proprietorship vs Corporation in Canada: Which Is Right for You?
The decision almost every new business owner faces. Here is how to think through sole proprietorship vs corporation based on where your business is going.
Compliance & Maintenance
Business Number vs Corporation Number: What's the Difference?
These two numbers get mixed up constantly, partly because a corporation has both. Here is the difference between a business number and a corporation number, in plain terms.
Incorporation Guides
What Is a NUANS Name Search, and Do You Need One?
Ontario and some other provinces require a NUANS report before you incorporate a named corporation, and federally the search is built into the filing. Learn what it is, how it works, and what happens if your first-choice name is unavailable.
Compliance & Maintenance
Corporate Annual Returns in Canada: A Complete Guide
Every Canadian corporation must file an annual return. Deadlines, fees, and consequences of missing a filing differ by jurisdiction. Here's everything you need to know.
Jurisdiction Comparisons
Incorporating in Ontario: Everything You Need to Know
Ontario is home to the majority of Canadian small businesses. This guide walks through the Ontario Business Corporations Act, costs, timelines, and what you'll receive after filing.
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Incorporation Guides
- NUANS Reports for Law Firms and Law Clerks: A Procurement Guide
- Your Corporate Name Was Refused. What Now?
- NUANS Report Alberta: When You Need One and How to Get It
- NUANS Report Ontario: How to Order One and File It
- How to Read a NUANS Report, Line by Line
- Professional Corporations in Canada: How They Work
- How to Incorporate Yourself: A Guide for Freelancers and Contractors
- Holding Company in Canada: What It Is and How It Works
- Named vs Numbered Corporation: Which Should You Choose?
- LLC in Canada: Why You Cannot Form One (and What to Do Instead)
- How to Incorporate a Business in Canada (Federal)
- What Are Articles of Incorporation?
- How to Register a Sole Proprietorship in Ontario
- How Much Does It Cost to Incorporate in Ontario?
- How to Register a Business in Ontario
- Sole Proprietorship vs Corporation in Canada: Which Is Right for You?
- What Is a NUANS Name Search, and Do You Need One?
Compliance & Maintenance
- Articles of Amendment in Ontario: When You Need Them and How to File
- Ontario Initial Return: What It Is and How to File It
- Corporate Tax Rates in Canada and the Small Business Deduction
- Shareholder Agreements in Canada: What They Are and Why They Matter
- Salary vs Dividends: How to Pay Yourself From Your Corporation
- How to Open a Business Bank Account in Canada
- How to Confirm a GST/HST Number
- How to Get a CRA Business Number
- How to Dissolve a Corporation in Ontario
- What Is a Minute Book, and Why Does Your Corporation Need One?
- How to Get a GST/HST Number in Ontario
- Business Number vs Corporation Number: What's the Difference?
- Corporate Annual Returns in Canada: A Complete Guide
More Articles Coming Soon
We're regularly publishing new guides on incorporation, compliance, and running a Canadian corporation.
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