Incorporation guides for Canada
This page lists every incorporation guide we publish, grouped by the stage of the work each one covers, from choosing a jurisdiction to dissolving a corporation. We prepare and file your articles of incorporation for $35.00, HST included. The government fee is separate and charged at cost: $200.00 to Corporations Canada under the CBCA, or $300.00 to the Ontario Business Registry under the OBCA. Open Corporation for $35 is a department of Gondaliya CPA. Every guide is written against the governing statute and reviewed by a Chartered Professional Accountant before it is published.
Before you file
Five guides cover the decisions made before any form is opened. Jurisdiction, cost, director residency and the registered office are settled first, because the registry endorses what you file and a change afterwards is an amendment with its own fee.
Start with the two pillar guides if you have not incorporated before. One sets out the steps in order and the other sets out what each step costs.
| Guide | What it answers |
|---|---|
| How to incorporate a business in Canada | The eight steps in order, from choosing a jurisdiction to the certificate of incorporation |
| What it costs to incorporate in Canada | Every government fee by jurisdiction, the costs outside the headline price, and what repeats each year |
| Documents needed to incorporate | What to have ready before the intake form, director by director and share class by share class |
| Director residency requirements | The 25 percent resident Canadian rule under the CBCA, and the provinces that set none |
| Registered office address | Whether a home address can be used, what becomes a public record, and what the address is for |
Naming the corporation and drafting the articles
Five guides cover the corporate name and the document that creates the corporation. A named corporation needs a NUANS report and a numbered corporation does not, and the share provisions inside the articles decide who can be paid a dividend later.
Share structure is the single most expensive thing to get wrong at incorporation. Articles drafted with one class of common shares leave no room to pay a spouse, bring in an investor or freeze a value.
| Guide | What it answers |
|---|---|
| NUANS name search | When a report is required, what it costs, how to read it, and how long a reservation holds |
| Corporate name rules | The distinctive, descriptive and legal elements, and the names a registry will refuse |
| Articles of incorporation explained | What each field on the form does, and what the registry checks before it endorses them |
| Share structure explained | Classes, votes, dividends and redemption rights, and why the structure is settled before filing |
| Shareholder agreement, what a CPA checks | What to settle between owners before signing, and where a lawyer is needed instead |
Our $35.00 fee includes HST. Government fees are passed through at cost with no mark-up. Every figure is on our full pricing page.
After the certificate is issued
Five guides cover the first 60 days. The certificate creates the corporation, and the corporation is then organized: shares issued, officers appointed, by-laws adopted and registers opened.
Two of these filings carry penalties rather than fees. A minute book is required under section 20 of the Canada Business Corporations Act, with a fine of up to $5,000. Ontario penalties for failing to keep a register of individuals with significant control reach $200,000.
| Guide | What it answers |
|---|---|
| What happens after you incorporate | The first 60 days, filing by filing, including the Ontario Initial Return |
| Business number and CRA accounts | The nine-digit number and the corporate tax, payroll, HST and import program accounts |
| Business bank account for a new corporation | The documents a bank asks for, and why a numbered company is treated no differently |
| Minute book requirements | What the law requires you to keep, for how long, and the fine for not keeping it |
| Register of individuals with significant control | Who must be listed, how the 25 percent test works, and the penalties for not listing them |
We file your incorporation for $35.00, HST included
Government fee shown separately at cost. A CPA reviews the share structure before filing.
Filings that repeat every year
Four guides cover the annual cycle. A corporation files an annual return with its registry and a T2 corporate income tax return with the Canada Revenue Agency, and the two are separate obligations with separate deadlines.
The year end sets both clocks. A first fiscal year end can be any date within 53 weeks of incorporation, and changing it later needs approval from the Canada Revenue Agency.
| Guide | What it answers |
|---|---|
| Corporate annual return | The registry filing that is not a tax return, the $12.00 federal fee, and the Ontario deadline |
| Your first T2 corporate tax return | The six-month deadline, instalments, the short return and the GIFI financial statements |
| Choosing a fiscal year end | The 53-week rule, what the date sets, and what changing it afterwards requires |
| Payroll setup for a new corporation | Remittance deadlines, T4 slips, and when a payroll account has to exist |
Tax for the owner
Seven guides cover how money leaves the corporation and what it costs you. Salary and dividends are taxed differently, the small business deduction is shared among associated corporations, and dividends to family are tested under the tax on split income rules.
These are the guides where the figures change most often. Each one carries the threshold, the rate and the tax year it applies to, and each is re-checked every January and after every federal budget.
| Guide | What it answers |
|---|---|
| Salary against dividends | RRSP room, CPP contributions, payroll accounts, and the mix that suits your income |
| Tax on split income | When a dividend to a spouse or an adult child survives section 120.4 of the Income Tax Act |
| The small business deduction | The $500,000 business limit, the 9 percent federal net rate, and associated corporations |
| Holding company in Canada | When a holding company belongs in the structure, and the filings it adds every year |
| Lifetime capital gains exemption | Qualified small business corporation shares, the holding tests, and purification |
| Personal services business risk | The Canada Revenue Agency incorporated employee test and the tax rate that follows it |
| HST registration | The $30,000 threshold over four consecutive calendar quarters, and voluntary registration |
Changing, expanding or ending the corporation
Five guides cover what happens after the first year. A sole proprietorship moving into a corporation uses a section 85 election, and a corporation trading in a second province registers extra-provincially. A corporation that has stopped trading is dissolved rather than abandoned.
A corporation that is simply left alone is dissolved by the registry instead, and the owner finds out when a bank or a buyer runs a search.
| Guide | What it answers |
|---|---|
| Section 85 rollover | Moving a sole proprietorship into a corporation without triggering a taxable gain |
| Extra-provincial registration | When a second province requires registration, what it costs, and who is exempt |
| Professional corporations in Ontario | Which colleges permit incorporation, on what terms, and who may hold the shares |
| Selling to the US from a Canadian corporation | Sales tax nexus, the W-8BEN-E form, and withholding on US-source income |
| How to dissolve a corporation | Voluntary dissolution, the final T2 return, and what happens to the remaining assets |
Our $35.00 fee includes HST and government fees are passed through at cost. Shorter pieces on the same subjects are published on the Open Corporation for $35 blog.
What a CPA checks before you incorporate
These guides explain the rules. They cannot tell you which structure suits your circumstances, because that depends on facts no page knows. Who will own the shares, what the business will earn, and who else in the family has income.
Share structure is the first thing we look at. We settle the number of share classes first, and we separate voting from non-voting where ownership will change. Articles drafted too narrowly force an amendment and a second registry fee.
Then who holds those shares. Ownership recorded late is not corrected by a resolution signed afterwards. A dividend paid to a family member stands only if it passes the tax on split income tests in section 120.4 of the Income Tax Act.
Then the directors. At least 25 percent must be resident Canadians under section 105(3) of the Canada Business Corporations Act, which can decide the jurisdiction on its own.
Then the year end. A date within 53 weeks of incorporation is yours to pick once, and the Canada Revenue Agency must approve any change afterwards. Then HST, where the question is when you will pass $30,000 in taxable supplies over four consecutive calendar quarters.
Last, whether a corporation earns its keep. Below about $60,000 of net business income there is usually too little left inside the company for the tax deferral to justify the extra filings. The parent firm sets out the same ground in its Gondaliya CPA resources library.
Frequently asked questions
These are the questions owners ask before they incorporate with us. Each answer carries the figure, the statute or the registry that makes it true, so it can be read on its own without the rest of the page around it.
How much does it cost to incorporate with you?
Should I incorporate federally or in Ontario?
Numbered or named, which should I choose?
How long does it take to get the certificate?
What do you need from me to file?
Do I need a NUANS report?
Can a non-resident incorporate in Canada?
What happens after you file my incorporation?
How do I pay, and is HST included?
Why use a CPA firm rather than an online filing service?
Why owners trust the filing to us
Gondaliya CPA Professional Corporation is registered with CPA Ontario under firm registration number 61330051. Our clients have left us 1,300+ five-star Google reviews, and we work from 13 Ontario offices, open 9:00 AM to 8:30 PM, Monday to Sunday. We back every filing with a 30-day money-back guarantee and a 60-day fee-matching policy, and we are a Xero Partner Award Winner 2026. Open Corporation for $35 is a department of Gondaliya CPA.
Ready to incorporate
Send the intake form and we will confirm your jurisdiction, your share structure and your year end before anything is filed. Our fee is $35.00, HST included, and the government fee is shown separately at cost. Payment is by Interac e-Transfer to info@gondaliyacpa.ca, and the security question is Not Applicable because auto-deposit is enabled.
No legal advice
Gondaliya CPA Professional Corporation is a firm of Chartered Professional Accountants licensed by CPA Ontario, firm registration number 61330051. It is not a law firm. We prepare and file corporate documents and we provide accounting and tax advice. Nothing on this page is legal advice, and reading it creates no solicitor and client relationship. For legal advice, including advice on a shareholder agreement before you sign it, consult a lawyer licensed in the province where your corporation carries on business.
