What Do I Do After Incorporating a Business in Alberta?

Steps to take after incorporating in Alberta

Receiving your certificate of incorporation from Alberta Corporate Registry is the start of your legal obligations, not the end of them. The Business Corporations Act (Alberta’s law governing corporations) requires ongoing recordkeeping, filings, and, if you hire staff, compliance with employment law. Here is the sequence most new Alberta corporations need to follow.

1. Set up your records office and start your minute book

Alberta law requires every corporation to prepare and maintain a set of records at its records office. Under section 21(1) of the Business Corporations Act, that includes the articles and bylaws (and any amendments), any unanimous shareholder agreement, minutes and resolutions of shareholder meetings, required notices, a securities register, copies of financial statements, and a register of disclosures made under section 120 of the Act.

Section 21(5) adds two more requirements: adequate accounting records, and minutes and resolutions of directors’ and committee meetings. Together, these documents are usually referred to as the corporate minute book. There is no separate registry filing that creates this book for you: the Act places the obligation on the corporation to prepare and keep it.

2. Get your federal Business Number

A federal, nine-digit Business Number is assigned after a corporation is formed. This number applies across Canada and is used by the Canada Revenue Agency to identify your corporation for tax purposes. It is separate from your Alberta corporate access number.

3. Keep your accounting records in Alberta and plan for retention

For Alberta Corporate Income Tax purposes, the law requires taxpayers to keep their records and books of account in Alberta. Non-permanent records must ordinarily be retained for a minimum of six years from the end of the last taxation year to which they relate. Building this retention schedule into your bookkeeping system early avoids a scramble later if the corporation is ever reviewed.

4. File your annual return every year

Once incorporated, an Alberta corporation must file an annual return each year with Corporate Registry to remain active and in good standing. There is no government fee to file it. This is a separate filing from any income tax return: it confirms your corporation’s basic information (such as registered office address and director details) is current on the public record. Missing this filing puts the corporation’s good standing at risk, which can matter when applying for financing or entering contracts.

5. Register with the Workers’ Compensation Board if you hire employees

If the corporation hires its first worker, Alberta law requires notifying the Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB) within 15 days of that hire and obtaining workers’ compensation insurance coverage. Once employees are on staff, the corporation also becomes subject to Alberta’s Employment Standards laws, human rights legislation, and Occupational Health and Safety codes.

6. Track periodic updates required by Corporate Registry

Beyond the annual return, an incorporated organization takes on ongoing compliance responsibilities and must periodically submit updates to Corporate Registry as circumstances change, for example when directors or the registered office address change. Alberta’s government guidance frames this as a continuing responsibility tied to the organization’s type, not a one-time task completed at incorporation.

7. Know your expansion options under the New West Partnership

Once you hold your Alberta certificate of incorporation, you can operate in British Columbia, Manitoba, or Saskatchewan at no charge under the New West Partnership Trade Agreement. This is specific to those three provinces; requirements for expanding into Ontario or other provinces are not addressed by this agreement and were not verified for this article.

What this checklist does not cover

Alberta’s Business Corporations Act also addresses matters such as the corporation’s first organizational meeting and its bylaws, and newly incorporated businesses typically need to register for federal tax accounts such as GST/HST with the Canada Revenue Agency, and may need a municipal business licence depending on where they operate. These steps were not independently verified against a primary source at the time of writing and are not covered here; check directly with Corporate Registry, the CRA, and your municipality for current requirements.

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