NUANS name search and the report Canadian registries accept
This page explains what a NUANS report is, when a registry requires one, what it costs and how long it lasts. We prepare and file your articles of incorporation for $35.00, HST included, and we supply the NUANS report for $25.00, HST included. The government fee is separate and charged at cost: $300.00 to the Ontario Business Registry under the OBCA. Open Corporation for $35 is a department of Gondaliya CPA. A Chartered Professional Accountant checks your proposed name against the registry rules before the report is ordered.
What a NUANS report is and what it searches
A NUANS report lists Canadian corporate names, registered business names and trademarks that are similar or identical to a name you propose to use. Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada describes NUANS as the Government of Canada’s business name and trademark search tool.
The search runs on an algorithm rather than an alphabetical lookup, so it returns names that sound alike or read alike as well as exact matches. Reports are ordered through NUANS member search houses, and CGI is the service provider that grants those memberships.
What the report leaves out matters as much as what it finds. It does not search domain names, social media handles, or businesses that have never filed anything with a registry.
A NUANS report does not tell you who has the better claim where two similar names appear. That question is settled by trademark law and by who used the name first in trade, not by the search.
When you need a report and when you do not
A numbered corporation needs no report in any jurisdiction, because the registry assigns the number rather than approving a name. That is the whole of the saving between a numbered filing and a named one.
Ontario, Alberta and New Brunswick all require a report bought from a private search house rather than from the registry. Nova Scotia accepts a report you supply and charges $15.12 for the name reservation itself.
A federal incorporation needs no separate report. Corporations Canada integrates the name search into the incorporation application itself. That search is included at $0.00 within the $200.00 online filing fee.
| Jurisdiction | What the registry requires | How long it holds | Who supplies it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Federal, CBCA | No separate report. The name search is built into the online incorporation application | Not applicable | Corporations Canada |
| Ontario | An Ontario-biased or weighted NUANS report. A Canada or federal biased report is refused | 90 days | A private NUANS search house |
| Alberta | A NUANS report, which must be less than 91 days old when the package is submitted | 91 days | A private NUANS search house |
| New Brunswick | A NUANS report bought from a private search house | 90 days | A private NUANS search house |
| Nova Scotia | A NUANS report you supply, plus a name reservation at the registry | 90 days | A private NUANS search house |
| British Columbia | A Name Request through Name Requests Online. NUANS is not used | 56 days | BC Registry Services |
| Quebec | A name reservation with the Registraire des entreprises. NUANS is not used | 90 days | Registraire des entreprises du Quebec |
| Manitoba | A Request for Name Reservation. The registry runs the search itself | Not confirmed, reviewer to verify on the official registry page | Manitoba Companies Office |
| Saskatchewan | A name reservation. The registry searches its own database | 90 days | Information Services Corporation |
| Prince Edward Island | A Level 1 or Level 2 name approval search. The registry runs the search itself | Not confirmed, reviewer to verify on the official registry page | PEI Corporate Registry |
Our $35.00 fee includes HST and government fees are passed through at cost with no mark-up. A standalone federal NUANS report is still required for a revival, an amalgamation, a continuance into the Canada Business Corporations Act, a cooperative and a registered intermediary filing.
The Ontario-biased report against the federal report
An Ontario-biased or weighted report ranks Ontario entries first and is the only version the Ontario Business Registry accepts. A Canada or federal biased report weights the search nationally and the registry will not accept it.
Ordering the wrong bias means buying the report twice. The Ontario Business Registry requires an Ontario-biased or weighted report whenever you are not using a number name. The report must come from a private name search company rather than the ministry.
The distinction catches people who incorporate federally first and then register extra-provincially in Ontario. The federal search that came with the federal filing does not satisfy the Ontario requirement.
There is also a difference between a pre-search and a reserved report. A pre-search is a preliminary look that shows you what is out there, while a reserved report is the dated document with a report number that a registry will accept.
Only the reserved report carries the 90-day clock the Ontario Business Registry relies on. The Ontario incorporation service page covers the rest of the Ontario filing.
What a NUANS report costs
A NUANS report is not a government fee. Each private search house sets its own rate, which is why no registry publishes a price for an Ontario-biased report.
We supply the report as part of the filing for $25.00, HST included, so the figure you see is the figure you pay. That brings a named Ontario corporation to $360.00 in total and a named federal corporation to $260.00.
| Item | Amount | HST | Total | Who charges it |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NUANS report, supplied with the filing | $25.00 | Included | $25.00 | Open Corporation for $35, a department of Gondaliya CPA |
| Our incorporation service fee. We prepare and file the articles of incorporation, the share provisions and the first director details | $35.00 | Included | $35.00 | Open Corporation for $35, a department of Gondaliya CPA |
| Federal name search, built into the online incorporation application | $0.00 | Not applicable | $0.00 | Corporations Canada |
| Standalone federal NUANS report, for a revival, amalgamation or continuance | not confirmed, reviewer to verify on the official registry page | Not applicable | not confirmed, reviewer to verify on the official registry page | Corporations Canada |
| Nova Scotia name reservation | $15.12 | Not applicable | $15.12 | Registry of Joint Stock Companies |
| British Columbia Name Request, plus a BC OnLine service fee | $30.00 | Not applicable | not confirmed, reviewer to verify on the official registry page | BC Registry Services |
| Quebec name reservation | $27.00 | Not applicable | $27.00 | Registraire des entreprises du Quebec |
| Manitoba Request for Name Reservation | $45.00 | Not applicable | $45.00 | Manitoba Companies Office |
| Saskatchewan name reservation | $50.00 | Not applicable | $50.00 | Information Services Corporation |
| Prince Edward Island Level 1 name approval search, Atlantic Canada | $40.00 | Not applicable | $40.00 | PEI Corporate Registry |
| Prince Edward Island Level 2 name approval search, Canada-wide | $50.00 | Not applicable | $50.00 | PEI Corporate Registry |
| Total, named Ontario corporation, standard online filing | $360.00 | Included in our fees | $360.00 | Combined |
| Total, named federal corporation, standard online filing | $260.00 | Included in our fees | $260.00 | Combined |
Our $35.00 fee includes HST and our $25.00 NUANS fee includes HST. Government fees are passed through at cost with no mark-up. These registry fee schedules were last checked on 7 September 2026. The full list is on our full pricing page, and every jurisdiction is set out in the guide to what it costs to incorporate in Canada.
We file your incorporation for $35.00, HST included
The NUANS report is $25.00, HST included. Government fees are shown separately at cost.
The 90-day clock and what it starts
A NUANS report is valid for 90 days. Corporations Canada states that a NUANS search is valid for 90 days only. Ontario requires that the report not be dated more than 90 days before the articles are filed.
Alberta counts slightly differently and requires the report to be less than 91 days old when the package is submitted.
The clock is a reason to settle the share structure and the directors before the report is ordered rather than after. A report bought while those decisions are still open can expire before the articles are ready.
A corporation also keeps the report after incorporation. The Ontario Business Registry terms of use require a copy to be kept at the registered office, in electronic or paper form. It belongs in the minute book with the articles and the registers.
What a NUANS report does not do
A report is a search result, not permission to use a name. Corporations Canada states that getting a NUANS name search does not mean it will automatically preapprove or approve your name.
The name becomes your corporation’s legal name only when the certificate is issued. An examiner can refuse a name that looks clear on the report, which is why the name is screened against the registry rules before the search is bought.
A report also lists trademarks without clearing them. Trademarks are administered separately by the Canadian Intellectual Property Office under the Trademarks Act.
A Canadian trademark registration lasts 10 years from the date of registration and is renewable every 10 years after that. A corporate name approval gives you the right to use that name as your legal name in that jurisdiction and nothing more. Our guide to numbered versus named companies sets out the trade-off between the two.
Provinces that run their own name search
Four provinces run the search themselves rather than asking you for a NUANS report, and two more use a separate system altogether.
The Companies Office in Manitoba runs the search as part of its $45.00 Request for Name Reservation. The five-page report covers Manitoba names, names in other Canadian jurisdictions and trademarks.
Information Services Corporation searches its own database in Saskatchewan for a $50.00 reservation that holds for 90 days. Prince Edward Island charges $40.00 for a Level 1 Atlantic Canada search and $50.00 for a Level 2 Canada-wide search, both non-refundable.
British Columbia uses Name Requests Online through BC Registry Services at $30.00, and an approved name is reserved for 56 days rather than 90.
Quebec files through the Registraire des entreprises du Quebec, where a name reservation costs $27.00 and holds the name for 90 days. The Charter of the French language governs the name itself, so a distinctive element in another language is normally paired with a French generic term.
What a CPA checks before you incorporate
The report is bought once and it is non-refundable, so the screening happens first. We read the proposed name against the registry rules before any search is ordered.
A name has to carry a distinctive element, a descriptive element and a legal ending. Names that are only descriptive, or that borrow a protected word, are refused after the money is spent rather than before.
A regulated profession changes the search itself. Several Ontario colleges require the member’s surname in the corporate name, which means the name screened is not the name the owner first proposed.
A conversion from a sole proprietorship changes it too. Where an existing trade name and its goodwill move into the corporation under a section 85 election, the name is chosen to match what the business already trades under.
Then the questions the name does not reach. Share ownership comes first, because a dividend routed to family is tested under the split income rules in section 120.4 of the Income Tax Act.
Board composition follows, since the federal residency test in section 105(3) can push the filing to a province. The year end and the HST position are settled in the same conversation, against the $30,000 small supplier threshold. The parent firm covers the same ground in Gondaliya CPA’s practical guide to incorporating in Ontario.
Frequently asked questions
These are the questions owners ask before they order a search. Each answer carries the figure, the period or the authority that makes it true, so it can be read on its own without the rest of the page around it.
What is a NUANS report?
Do I need a NUANS report to incorporate federally?
How long is a NUANS report valid?
Does a NUANS report mean I can use the name?
What is the difference between an Ontario-biased report and a federal report?
Does a NUANS report clear a trademark?
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. The platform is operated by WealthBamboo Inc., a federal corporation. Open Corporation for $35 is a department of Gondaliya CPA.
Ready to incorporate
Send the intake form and we will screen your proposed name, order the report and confirm your share structure 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.
