Business Name Approval

A name for your business

Perhaps by this point you have already chosen, or are thinking about, a name for your business. The first step in the registration process is securing approval of your business name.
You must have your name approved if you are:

  • Incorporating a company, society or cooperative
  • Registering a Partnership or Sole Proprietorship

Where to get your Business Name approved
You can get your name approved quickly at the following places:

  • Greater Vancouver: Small Business BC at 601 West Cordova Street.
  • Victoria: Victoria Connects at Suite G-7 Sussex Place,1001 Douglas Street,
  • You can also submit your name request by mail to: PO Box 9431 Stn, Prov Govt, Victoria BC V8W 9V3

    (At Small Business BC payment of the prescribed fee can be made by cash, Mastercard, Visa, or debit card. If you wish to pay by cheque or money order, made out to the Minister of Finance you will need to mail that directly to Victoria. Please do not send cash in the mail.)

Filling out the Name Approval Request form
You may put up to three choices of names on a Name Approval Request form. We strongly suggest you use all three choices in order of preference. The Corporate Registry will only examine the request until a name is approved - if your first choice is approved they do not search the remaining two. Your name must have two components. The first part of your name must start with a distinctive non-descriptive word or phrase. e.g.: a geographical location, your name, a made up word or phrase, or initials.

The second part of your name must describe what type of business you are in, e.g.: shoe store, investments, or doggy wash. A name that would meet the criteria would be John's Shoe Store or Vancouver Doggy Wash. Names that would not be approved are The Shoe Store or The Doggy Wash.

If you are incorporating a company you must add a third component called the corporate designation: e.g. Limited, Ltd., Corporation, Corp., Incorporated, Inc.

If you are registering a Sole Proprietorship or Partnership, a corporate designation is not used.

Processing of your Name Approval Request form.
If your request was mailed to Corporate Registry, it normally takes two weeks to process the request and have your results mailed back to you. At Small Business BC if you bring in your form you will be able to come back the same time the next business day to pick up the results or you can choose to have it mailed to you, which takes 2-3 business days.

Expiry date
If one of your names is approved, the name will be reserved for 56 calendar days. During this time you must submit your declaration form for a Sole Proprietorship or Partnership or file your Incorporation papers. If your documentation is not submitted within the 56 days, your name reservation will expire. Another name reservation fee will be required if you wish to continue.

Use of a Name
Until your company is incorporated, or your Sole Proprietorship or Partnership is registered, you should not invest any money on the name, e.g.: signs, printing, advertising. The name is only on reserve and can be cancelled prior to Incorporation or registration. Further information can be found at the Corporate Registry Information Centre. It is important to know that business names registered as proprietorship/general partnership do not have the same protection as corporate names. A corporation may be registered under the same name as a business – but a business name won't be accepted if it can be confused with a corporate name.

Trademarks
It is also important not to confuse a business name/trade name (either a sole proprietorship/general partnership or a corporation) with a trademark. A trademark is a word, symbol, or design, or combination of these, used to distinguish wares or services from others in the marketplace. Only the registration of a trademark gives its owner exclusive rights of use.
More information on trademarks may be found at:

Online Workshop - trademarks
Canadian Intellectual Property Office
What's in a Name?