Extra-provincial registration

A company incorporated in one province, or federally, may still have to register in another province before it carries on business there. When a buyer’s corporation takes over a business located in another province, it may need to register there. The requirement, the registry and the name of the filing differ by province, as the Ontario and Nova Scotia rules below show. See how one province handles it in this British Columbia guide.

Ontario

Ontario’s Extra-Provincial Corporations Act places extra-provincial corporations in classes. A corporation in class 1 or 2 may carry on business without a licence under that Act, subject to it and other Acts, but one in class 3 may not carry on business in Ontario without a licence (s. 4). The Corporations Information Act separately requires an initial return from an extra-provincial corporation that begins to carry on business in Ontario, other than an exempted class.

Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia says most extra-provincial, federal or foreign corporations that operate there need to register with the Registry of Joint Stock Companies. It adds that corporations incorporated and registered in New Brunswick do not have to register in Nova Scotia.