Corporation’s Name

• Enter the legal name of the corporation. The legal name of the corporation ends with an “Inc.”, “Ltd.”, “Corp.”, “Incorporated”, “Limited” or “Corporation”.

• The legal name of a corporation should not be confused with a trade name used by the corporation to carry on business. A corporation can only have one legal name (with a French equivalent), but may have one or several trade names. For example, a legal name may be “ABC Widgets Inc.”, but the trade name of this corporation may be “ABC Widgets”, “ABC’s” or even a name unrelated to its corporate name such as “XYZ Widgets”.

• If your corporation is a “numbered corporation” (e.g. 123456 Canada Inc.) then enter this name in the English Name Field. If your registered office is in Quebec, enter it in the French Name Field as well.

French Names

• Companies having a registered office or place of business in Quebec must either have a French name or a French version of the name in addition to any English name. The French name is typically a translation of the English name.

• As with English corporate names, French corporate names (for Quebec companies or federal corporations having a registered office in Quebec) must have a particular French expression as the last word in its name. These include: “inc.”; “ltée”; “incorporée”; and “limitée”.

Incorporation Date

• The date of incorporation is the date your corporation was legal created and came into existence. Your corporation can only have one date of incorporation.

• This date appears on your Certificate of Incorporation (also called a Charter, Memorandum of Incorporation or Letters Patent) you received from the government department or authority when the corporation was first incorporated.

Jurisdiction

• Select the jurisdiction pursuant to which your corporation was incorporated. A “jurisdiction” is a specific territorial area whose government department or authority has the legal capacity to issue the Certificate of Incorporation (also called a Charter, Memorandum of Incorporation or Letters Patent) of your corporation. If you are unsure, review the Certificate of Incorporation you received from the government department or authority when the corporation was first incorporated.

• We currently offer corporate maintenance services for corporations/companies of the following Canadian jurisdictions:

  • Canada / Federal (CBCA)
  • Alberta
  • British Columbia
  • Manitoba
  • Newfoundland
  • New Brunswick
  • Nova Scotia
  • Ontario
  • Prince Edward Island
  • Quebec
  • Saskatchewan

Corporation Number

• Enter your corporation’s Corporation Number. This number is provided by the government authority at the time of incorporation. This number appears on your corporation’s Certificate of Incorporation.

• This number is called a Corporation Number (also, a Corporation No.) in most provinces. In Alberta it is called the Corporate Access Number; in British Columbia it is called the Certificate of Incorporation Number; in Quebec it is called the Immatriculation Number.

• The Corporation Number is not referring to the “numbered corporation” number. This later number is your corporation’s name: e.g. 123456 Canada Inc.

Public Distribution

• Check this box ONLY if your corporation distributes its securities to the public. If you are unsure, it is very likely that your corporation does not distribute its securities – accordingly, do not check the box.

Annual Report/Return Date

• Enter the date of the last annual corporate report/return filed with your home jurisdiction government department. A copy of this report/return should appear in your corporate minute book.

• Corporations must file an annual return with the appropriate government department to update their corporate information. This information may include: registered office address; correspondence address; corporate directors and officers; fiscal year-end; use of new trade names; and shareholder status.

• If your corporation is less than one year old, or if you have never filed an annual report/return, enter your date of incorporation.

• NOTE FOR FEDERAL CORPORATIONS: This is the year of your last annual return to the Federal government (Form 22). This is no the year of the annual return/report to provincial government with which you are registered. Enter this latter information in the section above called Federal Corporation Provincial Registration.

Annual Meeting

• Enter the date of the last annual meetings of the board of directors and shareholders of your corporation.

• Legislation requires the holding of annual meetings of the board of directors and shareholders for corporations. Those meetings are recorded in annual minutes and resolutions which are kept in the corporation’s minute book along with all other important corporate documents.

• A copy of the most recent minutes of annual meetings should appear in your corporate minute book.

• If your corporation is less than one year old, or if such meetings were never held, check the Unknown checkbox.