Registered office address for a Canadian corporation
This page explains what a registered office is, whether a home address can be used, what becomes a public record and how the address is changed later. 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. A Chartered Professional Accountant checks your registered office and your directors before anything is filed.
What the registered office is for
The registered office is the address at which a corporation legally accepts documents. A court filing, a registry notice or a tax assessment delivered there is delivered to the corporation, whether or not anyone reads it.
It is not a trading address and it is not a mailing address. A corporation can operate from one city, take its mail at another and still hold its registered office somewhere else entirely.
Under section 19(1) of the Canada Business Corporations Act a federal corporation must have a registered office in the province specified in its articles at all times. The obligation is continuous rather than a one-off entry on a form.
The registered office is also where the corporate records live by default. An Ontario corporation keeps its minute book there unless the directors designate another place in Ontario.
The rules every jurisdiction applies
Three rules hold everywhere we file. The address must be a physical location, it must sit inside the province of incorporation, and it must be kept current with the registry.
A post office box on its own is not acceptable. Ontario ministry Notice ON00224E states that plainly for an OBCA corporation, and the other registries take the same position.
A unit number matters. An address that reaches a building but not a suite is the kind of detail that turns into an undelivered registry notice two years later.
| Jurisdiction | What must sit inside the province | Second address or local person | On the public register |
|---|---|---|---|
| Federal, CBCA | A registered office in the province named in the articles | None | Yes |
| Ontario | A registered office at a physical Ontario address | None | Yes |
| Alberta | A registered office and a records address, both physical Alberta locations | An agent for service who is an individual located in Alberta | Yes |
| British Columbia | A registered office and a records office in British Columbia | None | Yes |
| Quebec | A head office in Quebec | None | Yes |
| Saskatchewan | A registered office in Saskatchewan | A Saskatchewan-resident director or officer, or a Saskatchewan attorney | Yes |
| Manitoba, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island | A registered office in the province of incorporation | None | Yes |
Our $35.00 fee includes HST and government fees are passed through at cost with no mark-up. Every government fee by jurisdiction is set out in the guide to what it costs to incorporate in Canada, and the full list is on our full pricing page.
Can you use your home address
A home address can be the registered office, provided it is a physical address in the province of incorporation. No registry refuses one for being residential.
The consequence is publication. The registered office address appears on the public register, which anyone can search, and it stays there for as long as the corporation exists.
A director’s residential address is published too, and that is a separate entry from the registered office. Using an office address for one does not remove the other from the register.
Owners who would rather not publish a home address use a registered office address service. We provide one and price it on our pricing page. The guide to documents needed to incorporate lists what else becomes public.
What a company key changes about this
Ontario issues a nine-digit company key, free, and it is required to file most transactions in the Ontario Business Registry. It is delivered by email where an email address is on file, or by mail to the registered office.
Anyone holding that key can change your registered office, your directors and your officers. An address where mail sits unopened is therefore a security question as well as a compliance one.
The second address some provinces require
Two provinces ask for more than one address, and one asks for a person as well.
Alberta requires a Notice of Address covering both the registered office and the records address, and both must be physical locations in Alberta. It also requires a Notice of Agent for Service, with written consent signed by an individual located in Alberta.
We do not act as your agent for service in Alberta. You appoint an individual located there who consents in writing, and we prepare the notice around that appointment.
Saskatchewan takes a different route to the same end. It requires a Saskatchewan-resident director or officer, or a Saskatchewan attorney, even though its director residency quota is gone.
British Columbia distinguishes the registered office from the records office, and Quebec works from a head office. The naming differs and the principle does not. The guide to director residency requirements covers the local-person rules in full.
We file your incorporation for $35.00, HST included
A CPA checks your registered office against the province in your articles before filing.
Changing a registered office address
Moving within the same province is simple. Under section 19(3) of the Canada Business Corporations Act the directors may move the registered office anywhere within the province specified in the articles without amending them.
The change is reported to Corporations Canada within 15 days under section 19(4). Filed online, a federal change of registered office within the same province costs $0.00.
| Item | Amount | HST | Total | Who charges it |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Federal change of registered office within the same province, filed online | $0.00 | Not applicable | $0.00 | Corporations Canada |
| Federal Articles of Amendment, required to move the registered office to another province | $200.00 | Not applicable | $200.00 | Corporations Canada |
| Ontario Initial Return confirming directors, officers and the registered office | $0.00 | Not applicable | $0.00 | Ontario Business Registry |
| Ontario company key, required to file a change | $0.00 | Not applicable | $0.00 | Ontario Business Registry |
Our $35.00 fee includes HST and government fees are passed through at cost with no mark-up. These registry fee schedules were last checked on 7 September 2026.
Moving to a different province is not simple. That requires Articles of Amendment, because the province is written into the articles themselves, and amending them federally costs $200.00.
Ontario changes go through the Ontario Business Registry using the company key. The Initial Return due within 60 days of incorporation confirms the directors, the officers and the registered office, and it carries no government fee.
What a CPA checks before you incorporate
The address is settled before the province is, because the two decisions are the same decision. Choosing a jurisdiction commits you to holding an address inside it for the life of the corporation.
We ask where mail will actually be opened. A registered office that nobody monitors is how a corporation misses an annual return and ends up administratively dissolved.
We check the address against the province in the articles. A federal corporation that names Ontario and then operates from Alberta still needs an Ontario registered office, and no amount of trading elsewhere changes that.
Then the knock-on filings. An address change triggers a 15-day report federally, and it may also affect the extra-provincial registrations the corporation holds in other provinces.
Then the items that outlast the address. The share classes and the dividend path come first. A year end is picked within 53 weeks of incorporation, and HST registration stops being optional once taxable supplies pass $30,000. 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 when they are deciding whose address to use. 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.
Can I use my home address as my corporation’s registered office?
Can a registered office be a post office box?
Is my registered office address public?
How do I change my registered office address?
What is the difference between a registered office and a mailing address?
Do I need a registered agent in Canada?
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 confirm your registered office, your jurisdiction and 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.
