Federal corporation doing business in BC? Registration, address and both annual filings — handled

What extraprovincial registration is — and the two-month rule

Incorporating federally gives you a corporation that can operate anywhere in Canada, but each province still wants to know you are there. In BC that is extraprovincial registration under Part 11 of the Business Corporations Act. Section 375 requires a federal corporation to register within two months after it begins to carry on business in BC — counted from when business starts here, not from incorporation. The Act treats you as carrying on business in BC once you have an office here, a resident agent, or a BC address listed in a directory or advertisement, so "we haven't opened a storefront yet" usually does not delay the clock.

Three things filing services often get wrong

• You do not need a BC name reservation. Section 376(2) of the Act says so for federal corporations. Several online filing services will happily sell you one anyway.
• You may not need an attorney for service. Under s.386(1), no attorney is required if, under your articles, the corporation's head office is in BC. That turns on what your articles say, not where you happen to sit — which is why we ask for them. If your articles put the head office in another province, an attorney for service in BC is required, and we will tell you before anything is filed.
• The registration statement needs specific details (s.376(3)): the corporation's name, its date of incorporation, its corporation number, and the mailing and delivery address of the head office. A delivery address cannot be a PO box.

Your BC address

A federal corporation keeps its registered office in the province named in its articles, and its records with it. If that province is BC, Minuted's Vancouver-area address becomes your registered office and the delivery address on your BC registration — a real street address, which the Act requires, without renting a desk you will never sit at. The street address is given to clients on signup; it is never printed on this site.

The same address can receive your CRA, bank and supplier letter mail. Letters are scanned and emailed to you the same business day, and unlimited scanning is included in both plans. Registered and signature-required letters are accepted; we do not accept packages or large parcels, and we do not deposit cheques. If you want the originals, we forward them quarterly for $35 plus tax per shipment on your own courier label, and we can set a recurring reminder.

Both annual filings, included

Federal corporations in BC owe two things every year, on two different calendars. Minuted tracks and files both as part of the plan price.

What we ask you for

Two things, and we read the rest from the federal registry.

• The email Corporations Canada sent when you incorporated. Forward it or upload the attachments in the portal — it holds your certificate and articles, and the corporation key that lets us file on your behalf. Most owners have never opened the attachments; that is fine.
• The date you began carrying on business in BC. The registration statement asks for it and the two-month deadline runs from it.

Along the way we build your opening minute book — consents, organizational resolutions, share records, registers and the ISC register — and you sign it in the portal. If your corporation has two share classes, a corporate shareholder, or a shareholders' agreement in the works, the opening records are legal work rather than templates, and are quoted separately under a written retainer with the operator's law practice.

Pricing

Same prices as a BC company. Full Compliance is the plan built for federal corporations: the extraprovincial registration and both annual filings are included. Government fees are billed at cost.

Prices in CAD plus tax. Switching from a law firm or another provider is free; importing your minute book is included, no transfer fee.

Common questions

Also see