File for federal incorporation and provincial registration via Industry Canada’s online Electronic Filing Centre.
To file for incorporation electronically (via Online Filing Centre), the cost is CAD $200. There is no cost to the corporation for the provincial registration. Electronic filing for incorporating a business is 1 day and the Business Number is sent to the company within 5 days.
The following documents are required to file for federal incorporation and provincial registration:
1. Form 1: Articles of Incorporation
2. Form 2: Initial Registered Office Address and First Board of Directors
3. Provincial registration form.
While extra-provincial registration in Ontario, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan can be done at the same time when the documents for federal incorporation are filed (via Joint Online Registration System), generally, a federal company that intends to conduct business in other Canadian province would need to register in that province individually. See, for example, Part 11 of the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia).
Four incorporation options available:
1. Incorporation of a numbered name corporation, e.g., 1234567 Canada Inc.; if the company is incorporating under a name, rather than a number, a name search report must be obtained at a cost of CAD 20 (it was CAD 50). The search report and articles must be filed within 90 days of the production of the name search report.
2. Incorporation of a corporation with a name pre-approved by Corporations Canada (a NUANS® search in electronic format is required to accompany the submission) ; or
3. Incorporation of a corporation where name approval is to be sought (a NUANS® search in electronic format is required to accompany the submission);
4. Incorporation of a numbered name corporation that has been pre-reserved.
It is a same day service, if you submit the forms online prior to 1PM; the incorporation certificate should be provided on the same day by 5PM.
The online incorporation process also allows selection of which Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) accounts are required (such as for corporate income tax or goods and services tax/harmonized sales tax), and if accounts are selected, it also results in automatic generation of the Business Number by the CRA within 5 days of incorporation, and the BN is mailed to the company.
Source: Doing Business Report – The World Bank