Corporations Canada is responsible for administering the Canada Business Corporations Act, the Canada Corporations Act, the Boards of Trade Act, the Canada Cooperative Associations Act, and several other corporate laws governing federal companies, except for financial intermediaries. The organization also issues and registers official documents under the Great Seal of Canada. Corporations Canada's main lines of business include incorporation and related services such as: amalgamation or other corporate charter amendments; dissolution of corporations; ruling on the use of corporate names; collecting and disseminating information on federal companies; and compliance and enforcement activities related to the statutes it administers.

What's available online for clients?

Information services:

Information about federal incorporation, legislation, policies, services and fees;

Guides on incorporation;

Monthly publications on transactions, listings, amendments, and dissolutions; and

Basic information on corporations.

Transaction services:

Incorporation under the Canada Business Corporations Act;

Online address and director changes;

File annual returns;

Online payments;

Joint online registration system allowing federal incorporation and provincial registration of a business; and

Links to the NUANS for name search and registration.

Clients and benefits of online service

Clients:

Anyone wishing to incorporate a business in Canada or to maintain an incorporated company.

Benefits:

Faster turnaround times for transactions (e.g. clients choosing pre-approved text options can have a Certificate of Incorporation returned within minutes);

Better service for high-volume users (e.g. search houses and law firms) that enables them to electronically file multiple applications at their convenience; and

Reduced fees for use of online services (e.g. business incorporation costs $200 compared to $250 for traditional paper filing, and the annual return fee is $20 compared to $40 for a paper submission).

Our journey to success

When Corporations Canada launched its system of online filing for business incorporations, in late 1999, it became the first organization in Canada to offer such a service. That was just the beginning. Since then, a steady series of enhancements to the system have made it possible for virtually all submissions relating to federal business corporations to be filed online. In the opinion of many, this has truly been a major achievement in a field not lacking in achievements.

Rather than resting on its online laurels, Corporations Canada has continued to seek out new ways to add to its repertoire of electronic filing services. One example of the new avenues being explored is a cross-jurisdictional project that began in 2002. Through this initiative with three provinces, Corporations Canada clients are able to apply to register their companies provincially at the same time as they are submitting their online applications for federal incorporation. During the same year, this service was taken to an even higher level by an enhancement that allows clients to use another online system — the NUANS real-time name search system — to add a corporate name search to the incorporation process.

The Corporations Canada online filing system has not only made the process of incorporating and registering a new company easier, it has also made it more appealing, a statement borne out by recent statistics showing that 80 percent of new federal business incorporations are submitted online.

And finally, although the Corporations Canada success story has been highlighted by a long list of achievements down through the years, it seems clear that the vehicle that is carrying the organization on this current leg of its journey to success is its system of online filing for business incorporations and related corporate filings.