Cost to incorporate in each province and territory
Every registry in Canada charges its own fee to create a corporation, and the bill depends on one early choice: a numbered company or a named one. This page puts the government charges for all fourteen registries side by side, so you can budget before you file. You file yourself through each registry’s official service; the federal one is Corporations Canada’s Online Filing CentreSource.
Numbered or named
A numbered company takes the number the registry assigns as its legal name. You pay the incorporation fee and nothing else for the name.
A named company needs its name cleared first, and that step has its own price. Depending on where you incorporate, it is a NUANS report from a private vendor, a name reservation with the registry, or a search that is part of the filing itself. The named total below adds that step to the incorporation fee.
The costs side by side
| Jurisdiction | Numbered company | Named company | What a name needs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Federal | $200 ($300 expedited)Source | $213.80Source | The name search is part of the filingSource
|
| Ontario | $300Source | $300 + NUANS vendor fee (varies)Source | An Ontario-biased NUANS report from a private NUANS vendorSource
|
| British Columbia | $350Source | $380Source | A name reservation with the registrySource |
| Alberta | $291.75 + registry agent fee (varies)Source | $291.75 + registry agent fee (varies) + NUANS vendor fee (varies)Source | An Alberta-biased NUANS report from a private NUANS vendorSource
|
| Nova Scotia | $200Source | $260.52 (part incl. tax)Source | A name reservation with the registrySource
|
| Quebec | $397 ($595.50 priority)Source | $397Source | Search the registry yourself; the registry does not check the name for youSource
|
| Manitoba | $350Source | $395Source | A name reservation with the registrySource
|
| Saskatchewan | $255Source | $305Source | A name reservation with the registrySource
|
| New Brunswick | $262 ($312 on paper, $362 expedited)Source | $262 + NUANS vendor fee (varies)Source | A New Brunswick NUANS report from a private NUANS vendorSource
|
| Prince Edward Island | $215Source | $255Source | A name reservation with the registrySource
|
| Newfoundland and Labrador | $270 ($300 on paper)Source | $280Source | A name reservation with the registrySource
|
| Yukon | $300Source | $340Source | A name reservation with the registrySource
|
| Northwest Territories | $300Source | $325Source | A name reservation with the registrySource
|
| Nunavut | $300Source | $325Source | A name reservation with the registrySource
|
How to read the table:
- Figures are government fees, before tax unless the fee says it includes tax.
- Confirm with the registry means at least one part of that total could not be checked on a current official page. The note under the figure says which part and why.
- A total that ends in fee (varies) has a part set by someone other than the government, so there is no single number to show. In Alberta, for example, the filing goes through a registry agent, who adds their own charge: $291.75 + registry agent fee (varies)Source.
- Where a NUANS report is required, vendors set the price, which is why the named total carries the vendor’s fee in words.
What changes the price
Faster service. Several registries charge more for priority or expedited handling. The numbered column shows those options next to the standard fee.
Where you do business. A corporation that operates outside the jurisdiction it was created in usually has to register in each other province or territory too, at that registry’s fee. The federal vs provincial comparison lists how that works for a federal corporation in each one.
Yearly filings. Incorporating is a one-time charge, but every registry also expects an annual return. Each jurisdiction’s page lists that fee with the rest of its charges.