The path · Incorporation
Incorporating in Canada: the path
The legal groundwork in the order it actually comes up, from choosing where to incorporate to your first hire. Each step is a plain answer cited to primary sources.
Steps that differ by jurisdiction have their own federal, Ontario, and Alberta versions. Each article commits to its jurisdiction's forms, fees, and filing system rather than blending three processes into one page.
- Should I incorporate federally or provincially? The first fork in the road, and cheaper to get right than to redo.
- How much does it cost to incorporate a business? The real all-in number: government fee, registry charge, name search.
- How do I choose and reserve a corporate name? Name search first: everything downstream carries it.
- What are articles of incorporation and what do they include? The document that actually creates the corporation.
- What share structure should a new corporation set up? The mistake that's expensive to fix later.
- What do I do after incorporating a business? Bylaws, first resolutions, issuing shares: the steps everyone skips. Federal, Ontario, and Alberta each have their own version of this path.
- How do I get a business number and CRA program accounts after incorporating? GST/HST and payroll accounts, before the first invoice or hire.
- Do I need a shareholder agreement if I have a co-founder? Yes-adjacent. Read before the first disagreement, not after.
- What has to be in an employment contract? Before the first hire, and the rules differ in Ontario and Alberta.
- What happens if I don't file my annual return? The one deadline that quietly dissolves corporations.