How to incorporate in Alberta

Alberta works differently from most provinces. There is no website where you file the articles yourself. Instead, licensed private businesses called registry agents take your paperwork, run the searches and send the filing to the province for you. A registry agent is the official route here, not a middleman you can skip.

The official route

  1. A registry agent near you
    Cost
    PaidSource
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    In person through a licensed registry agentSource
  2. Registries Online (subscribers only)
    Cost
    PaidSource
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    Needs a Registries Online subscription, open only to businesses with 50 or more transactions a monthSource

How the cost works

You pay two amounts. The province sets its own charge, and the agent adds a service fee of its own. For the incorporation itself that comes to $291.75 + registry agent fee (varies)Source. Registry agents add their own service charge to each government fee. The government doesn't cap it, so prices vary by agent.Source It pays to phone two or three agents and compare before you pick one.

Registry agents don't all have to offer incorporation or trade name registration, so ask before you go.Source Use the official registry agent finderSource to see who is near you. How you deal with them: Paid; in person through a licensed registry agentSource.

Very busy filers can get a direct subscription instead, through Registries OnlineSource (Paid; needs a Registries Online subscription, open only to businesses with 50 or more transactions a monthSource). Most people starting one company won’t qualify.

Before you start

Decide between a number and a name. Can you take a numbered company in Alberta? YesSource It is the fastest choice, because there is no name to clear.

For a named company, get the name report first. What Alberta asks for: An Alberta-biased NUANS report from a private NUANS vendorSource. Private vendors sell the report, so the price is Set by the NUANS vendorSource. Ask for the version weighted toward Alberta.

Two Alberta corporations can't share the same name, unlike trade names.Source

Holding a name ahead of time. A separate fee to reserve a name: Not offeredSource. In practice the report is what keeps the name for you while it is valid.

Step by step

  1. Choose a name or use a numbered nameSource. A name is built from three parts: something that sets it apart, a word saying what the business does, and an ending such as Ltd.
  2. Order an Alberta NUANS reportSource. Skip this if you chose a number.
  3. Complete the Articles of IncorporationSource. This is the core document that creates the company.
  4. Give a registered office in Alberta and a mailing addressSource. Both have to be real addresses you can be reached at.
  5. Name at least one adult directorSource.
  6. Appoint an agent for service in AlbertaSource. This is the person or firm that accepts legal papers for the company in Alberta.
  7. Submit the package with ID and payment to a registry agentSource. Bring photo ID; the agent checks it before filing.

After you incorporate

File the annual return every year. It also goes through an agent, so the agent’s fee applies again: $53.05 + registry agent fee (varies)Source.

Proving the company exists. A certificate of status costs $5.30 + registry agent fee (varies)Source, and a search of a company’s record costs $5.30 + registry agent fee (varies)Source. Alberta has no free public search of its own for corporations: registry agents carry out every corporate search.Source

Already incorporated somewhere else? An out-of-province corporation needs an Alberta NUANS report unless it has a numbered name or is a federal corporation.Source