Registering a Business in Ontario, Canada

There is absolutely no doubt that Ontario is the best place to start a business in Canada. It is the biggest local economy with close to 13 million and growing residents. It also has the highest per capita income in Canada. The business infrastructure is well established, making the business registration process much easier to execute.

When you decide to incorporate a business in Ontario, you must decide whether you want a sole proprietorship, a partnership or a limited liability partnership. No matter which you opt for, I will help you navigate the Ontario business registration process in the next few sections.

Naming Your Business in Ontario

I will discuss registering both a sole proprietorship and a corporation in this section. If you want to run your business as a sole proprietorship you don't need to formally register your business name. However, as a corporation you must go through the formal Ontario business registration process.

Even as a sole proprietorship, if you are going to name your business anything other than your name, you will have to go through the formal Ontario business registration process. A business' name is registered with the Companies Branch of the Ministry of Consumer and Business Services.

As a business, you have to make a decision whether you want to incorporate in Ontario only or if you want to incorporate in Canada. If you want the latter, you will have to federally incorporate which establishes you as a corporation in all of Canada. For our purposes however, I will focus on Ontario business registration only, which is called a provincial incorporation that establishes and protects your business' name in Ontario and Ontario only.

WARNING: Be very careful when selecting a name for your business. No matter what business type you start, you cannot use any names that resemble any connection with any entity of the Canadian Government, a province, burrough, the Crown or any entity related to it, any municipality or any other form of legal entity. The only exceptions to this are explicit permissions obtained from the entity whose name is being used itself.

Researching Your Business Name

Although the Ontario Citizenship by Investment Program business registration authorities will tell you if you have a business name identical to another existing one, they won't tell you whether your name is similar to an existing one. Only you can do this by searching the business name database. Why is this important? This step is important so that you are not sued by an existing business for infringement of the trademark.

Searches can be conducted for $12 or less, online or personally by visiting the Companies Branch that is located at 375 University Avenue in Toronto. In addition, you should go through the Electronic Corporate Index to learn about the variations of your contemplated business name. You can also conduct your search online through a couple online resources that are endorsed by the Ministry of Consumer and Business Services.

Immigration Ways is the Best Immigration Consultant in Karachi, Pakistan. We are committed to ourselves to provide the best quality service to our clients and leave no stone unturned to achieve their success. OUR CLIENT’S SUCCESS IS OUR SUCCESS!