What Do I Do After Incorporating in Ontario?

The four filings every Ontario corporation needs after incorporation

Incorporating creates the legal entity, but Ontario law imposes ongoing filing duties that start the moment the certificate of incorporation issues. In practical order, the steps are:

1. File the Initial Return (Form 1) within 60 days of incorporation.
2. Register with the CRA for a Business Number and any program accounts your corporation needs (GST/HST, payroll).
3. File a Notice of Change within 15 days whenever previously filed corporate information changes.
4. File an Annual Return every year through the Ontario Business Registry (OBR), within 6 months of the fiscal year-end.

Each step is a separate legal obligation with its own deadline, and missing one does not excuse the others.

Before you start: know your fiscal year-end

The Annual Return deadline (step 4) is calculated from the corporation’s fiscal year-end, which is set when the corporation is organized. Knowing that date early makes it easier to calendar the recurring filing before it becomes due, since it repeats every year rather than being a one-time task like the Initial Return.

Step 1: File the Initial Return (Form 1) within 60 days

Every Ontario business corporation must file a Form 1, Initial Return, setting out prescribed information, within 60 days after the date of incorporation (Corporations Information Act, RSO 1990, c C.39, s 2(1)-(2)). This is a one-time filing that puts the corporation’s basic details, such as its registered office address and its directors, on the public record for the first time.

There is no Ministry fee to file the Initial Return through the Ontario Business Registry.

Step 2: Register for a federal Business Number and CRA program accounts

The Business Number (BN) is a federal registration used across Canada, including in Ontario and Alberta, to identify a business to the CRA. A corporation needs a BN once it needs a GST/HST account, a payroll account, or another CRA program account. Once the corporation has a BN, it can register separately with the CRA for those additional program accounts.

This is a federal step, not an Ontario-specific one, and it sits alongside (not instead of) the provincial filings below.

Step 3: File a Notice of Change within 15 days of any change

After the Initial Return is filed, the corporation must keep that information current. Under the Corporations Information Act, every corporation must file a Notice of Change for any change to the information already on file, within 15 days after the change takes place (RSO 1990, c C.39, s 4(1)). Common triggers include a new registered office address, a change of directors, or a change of officers.

The Ontario Business Registry profile, including the official email address the Ministry uses to send corporate communications, must also be kept accurate, with changes reported within 15 days.

Step 4: File the Annual Return every year

Separately from the Initial Return and any Notices of Change, Ontario law requires every corporation (other than a class exempted by regulation) to file a return each year with the Minister (Corporations Information Act, RSO 1990, c C.39, s 3.1(1)). In practice, this Annual Return is filed through the Ontario Business Registry each year, within 6 months of the corporation’s fiscal year-end.

The Initial Return and the Annual Return are commonly confused because both flow through the same registry, but they are legally distinct: one is triggered by incorporation, the other repeats annually regardless of whether anything has changed.

Where the record stays incomplete

The Ontario Business Registry and CRA filings above are confirmed obligations, but they are not necessarily the only administrative steps a newly incorporated business will encounter, such as internal corporate governance and record-keeping practices. Ontario government sources consulted for this article did not specify a current dollar fee for the OBR Annual Return itself, only that the Initial Return and Notice of Change carry no Ministry fee. Confirm the current Annual Return fee directly with the Ontario Business Registry before relying on it.