How Much Does It Cost to Maintain a Corporation Each Year in Alberta?

What it costs to maintain an Alberta corporation each year

There is no single official “annual maintenance fee” for an Alberta corporation. The number that is fixed by government is the $51.50 filing fee for the annual return. Everything else, including what a registry provider bills you and any accounting cost to prepare a corporate tax filing, depends on who you use and the size of your corporation.

Why the annual return has two separate charges

Alberta corporations do not file their annual return directly with a government office. Instead, filings go through private Corporate Registry service providers, and “service providers will charge a government fee and a service fee for filing annual returns for Alberta and out-of-province corporations.” The $51.50 figure is the government’s share only. The provider’s own service fee sits on top of it and is not set or capped by the province, so the total a corporation pays out of pocket depends entirely on which provider it uses.

The government fee itself is not static. It was $50.00 as of the April 2023 Registry Agent Product Catalogue and rose to $51.50 effective October 1, 2025. That is a small change, but it confirms the fee is adjusted periodically, so a figure quoted from an older source may already be out of date.

When the annual return is due

The Business Corporations Regulation sets a fixed filing window tied to each corporation’s incorporation date, not the calendar year. The prescribed date for sending an annual return to the Registrar is “not later than the last day of the month immediately following the anniversary month” of incorporation. In practice, this means every Alberta corporation has its own annual filing deadline based on the month it was originally incorporated, and that deadline repeats every year regardless of the company’s financial year-end.

What happens if the annual return isn’t filed

Alberta’s guidance is direct on the consequence of missing the filing: “if you do not file the annual return, your corporation may be dissolved.” Filing the annual return, and paying the government fee plus whatever service fee the chosen provider charges, is what keeps the corporation in good standing and prevents that outcome.

The separate cost of corporate income tax filing

The annual return through the Corporate Registry is not the same obligation as corporate income tax. Corporations with a permanent establishment in Alberta must also file an Alberta Corporate Income Tax Return, known as the AT1, and the Alberta Corporate Tax Act requires this to be done electronically through the net file service. No filing fee is stated for the AT1 itself in Alberta’s published guidance, but preparing it is a real annual task distinct from, and in addition to, the Corporate Registry’s annual return.

Putting the pieces together

For most Alberta corporations, the yearly compliance cost has three possible components: the fixed $51.50 government fee for the annual return, a variable service fee charged by whichever registry provider handles the filing, and, where a permanent establishment exists in Alberta, the work of preparing and filing the AT1 corporate tax return. Only the first of these has a government-set number; the other two depend on the corporation’s own circumstances and choice of provider.