Ontario Corporate Filing Center

Ontario Corporate Filing Center: incorporation and business registration in Ontario

Ontario Corporate Filing Center is an official intermediary for the Province of Ontario that provides online incorporation and business registration services. Its platform centralizes corporate filings and registry searches, with the stated goal of simplifying everything from incorporating a company to ongoing corporate compliance. The company states that more than 780,000 Canadian businesses have trusted its services.

The site presents incorporation as a fast process: a named or numbered corporation can be incorporated in about 30 minutes, and there is a rush 1-hour queue. The advertised filing fee for provincial incorporation is CAD 29 plus the CAD 300 government fee.

Provincial structures in Ontario

The provincial catalog covers various corporate and association structures. Options include the Ontario standard corporation, the professional corporation for regulated professions (engineers, lawyers, doctors, among others), the Ontario PREC —a separate legal corporation created by real estate professionals—, the Ontario holding company, the non-profit, the registered charity, and the co-op with share capital. The company describes a holding company as an entity that owns assets or investments without operating a business, and notes that registered charities are tax-exempt and can issue donation receipts for tax deductions.

Federal incorporation and extra-provincial registration

Federal incorporation is presented as a way to secure the corporate name and prepare for future trademark registration, with name protection across Canada. The company warns that, under this option, 25% of the directors must be Canadian citizens or permanent residents. The federal catalog includes corporation, holding company, non-profit, registered charity, and co-op with share capital. It also offers extra-provincial registration to operate in another province or territory.

Business name registration and licences

Within business name registration, the company files the Ontario sole proprietorship, the Ontario trade name, the general partnership, the limited partnership, the limited liability partnership (LLP) for regulated professions, and the master business licence, which allows operating under a name other than the legal name. A limited partnership is described as a structure that provides limited liability protection to its partners.

Name searches and federal requests

For name selection, the service includes instant NUANS reports, agent-assisted NUANS reports with analysis of similar names, a business name pre-search to avoid conflicts, and the federal name request before registering the corporation.

Corporate changes and corporate filings

The company handles changes to corporations and unincorporated businesses: corporate name change, addition, removal, or change of directors, shareholders, and officers, and change of corporate address. In the area of corporate filings, it processes the mandatory initial return, the annual return, the continuance of a corporation from one province to another, dissolution, the amalgamation of two or more corporations, articles of amendment, and reviving a corporation to return it to active status. It also covers opening Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) and WSIB accounts, the latter linked to workplace accident coverage and compliance with Ontario occupational health and safety regulations.

Corporate and registry searches

The search section includes the Company Key to access the corporation's profile and file changes, the certificate of status proving the corporation is in good standing, corporate profile records, duplicate copies of the certificate and articles of incorporation, and duplicate registration documents. These are complemented by land title searches, bankruptcy searches, vehicle history searches by VIN, and personal property security (PPSA) searches.

Trademarks, corporate services, and post-incorporation support

The firm files trademark applications in Canada and the United States, trademark reports, and copyright registration. As complementary services, it offers a minute book kit, corporate seal, share certificates, attorney or agent service, post-incorporation support, domain name reservation, customer service email, business logo design, offshore companies, shelf corporations, accounting services, and paralegal services.