There are three types of businesses you can choose from:
A Sole Proprietorship is a type of business owned and operated by one person or a company. It is the simplest business structure.
A Partnership is a business structure in which two or more individuals or companies share ownership and responsibilities. Partners contribute to the business and share its profits and losses.
Incorporation is a legal process that creates a separate legal entity for the business. It can be named or numbered and provides limited liability protection to its owners.
You will need your valid photo identification and the necessary forms, which can be downloaded from the website. Corporate Registry forms for businesses | Alberta.ca
After completing the registration, you will receive a separate email from the corporate registry containing your business number. You can then apply for your GST number from the Canada Revenue Agency.
Incorporation is the most common way a business is structured in Alberta because of the advantages of limited liability a corporation offers. The principal advantage of incorporating is that a corporation has a legal existence separate and apart from its owners (the shareholders). A corporation has all the powers of a person. A corporation can own property, enter contractual relationships, earn an income, suffer a financial loss and retain profits, and sue and be sued in court. A corporation can also have more sophisticated ownership and management structures than a sole proprietorship, which is limited to one owner.
There are also significant tax advantages to a corporation that are not available to a sole proprietorship. If you are interested in incorporating or otherwise opening a business in Alberta, please reach out to New Urban Registry at services@newurbanregistry.com
In Alberta, a corporation is an independent legal entity that exists separate and apart from its owners.
The benefits of incorporating business include
If you are the sole owner of an unincorporated business, you are running what is described as a sole proprietorship. The owner of a sole proprietorship has sole responsibility for making decisions, receives all of the profits, claims all losses, and does not have separate legal status from the business. As a result, the owner of a sole proprietorship remains at risk in a lawsuit for having their personal assets and personal property subject to liquidation to satisfy a judgment against it.
An extra-provincially registered corporation in Alberta is a corporation that was incorporated outside of Alberta and has subsequently been registered in Alberta.
Extra-provincial registration of companies incorporated outside of Alberta is necessary for businesses carrying on business in Alberta.
Your corporation is carrying on business in Alberta if
How to Name your Alberta Business:
In Alberta, parties seeking to incorporate an entity must choose between a named company or numbered company.
A named company is a legal entity that consists of three (3) elements: distinctive, descriptive, and legal.
The distinctive element is a unique word or location that makes your corporation’s name different from others. Examples of this could be “ABC,” “Giovanni’s,” or “Snappy.”
The descriptive element describes what the corporation does or is: Examples are “Building Supplies,” “Consulting,” and “Photography.”
The legal element is a requirement that falls at the end of each named company. Standard legal elements include Limited, Limitee, Ltee, Ltd., Corp., Corporation, Inc., Incorporated, Incorporee, or ULC (Unlimited Liability Corporation). All the elements have the same meaning and indicate that the business is incorporated
A numbered company is a legal entity that is identified by a numerical sequence followed by the words “Alberta Ltd.”
A numbered company may be referred to as “785843 Alberta Inc.”
Alberta Corporate Registry assigns the number portion of the name. “Alberta” always forms the second part of the name. You as the incorporator may choose one of the standard legal elements mentioned above.
Choosing between a named company and numbered company can seem daunting. Numbered companies are almost less expensive to incorporate and create a level of anonymity for the owners. A Named company provides some protection within Alberta for the company name.
What is a NUANS Report?
The NUANS (Newly Upgraded Automated Name Search) is a computerized search system that, for the purposes of Corporate Registry, compares a proposed corporate name to a database of existing corporate names. This comparison determines the similarity that exists between the proposed name and existing names in the database and produces a listing of names that are found to be most similar.
In most cases, the NUANS reports will reserve the proposed name for a period of 90 days for the person requesting the report. Business Name Search Reports are different in that although they provide a list of similar names, there is no exclusive reservation of the name.
The NUANS reports whether they are sent to an authorized service provider or to the Corporate Registry office. They must be less than 91 days old and must contain all 6 pages. Either the original or a carbon copy is acceptable.
A professional corporation is a specific type of corporation that can be incorporated for an individual who provides specific professional services as a regulated member of a profession governed by aprofessional body. Professions such as lawyer, physician, dentist, accountant, chiropractor, and optometrist are some examples.
Under the Business Corporation Act, RSA 2000, c. B-9, a professional corporation must contain the words “Professional Corporation” as the last words of the name of the corporation, whether aprofessional descriptor such as “Legal,” “Law,” “Medical,” or “Dental” is used.
A professional corporation may only be incorporated with the written approval of the articles that is less than 2 years old by or on behalf of the governing body of the appropriate profession or occupation.
Although a professional corporation does not protect a regulated professional against personal liability for professional negligence or malpractice, it can still provide some protection for professionals from other types of claims, including failure to pay rent, in which the location of the practice is rented by the professional corporation as opposed to the professional.
There may be significant tax benefits for professionals earning money through their professional corporation, including tax deferral and income splitting opportunities. For more information regardingtax benefits, we recommend you contact an accountant.
