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The requirements for business registration in Quebec depend on the legal structure you’ve chosen for your business. It is not necessary for sole proprietorships to be registered if the business owner’s full name is used. However, partnerships and corporations must be registered.

While these structures are not mandatory to register, owners still have the option if they wish to have ownership over the business name.

Before you begin the registration process you should consider all of the pros and cons of each business structure available to you: sole proprietorship, partnership, or corporation. For a detailed look at these structures read the article: What Form of Business is Best for you?

The first step for anyone wanting to register a business is to perform a research report of the name. This search is done by the Registraire des Entreprises (REQ). To have the search done you will have to pay a fee and submit a “Demande Pour Obtenir un Rapport de Recherche de Nom.

The fees for this process are:

Sole Proprietorship: $24.16
Partnership: $24.16
Corporation: $42.56

If the name you want to use is available you have 90 days to complete the registration. To ensure that you can reserve this name you must file a form titled: Demand de reservation de Denamination Sociale and pay a fee of $42.56.

Sole Proprietorship
As we mentioned above it is not necessary for you to register your business if you use your full name as the business name. However, if you choose to use just your first or last name you are required to register. In other words if you want to open John Smith's Books, there is no need to register, but if you want to be known as John's Books then you will have to complete the process.

Once you have successfully completed the NUANS search your next step is to fill out the appropriate forms and pay a fee to the REQ. In this case the form you are looking for is a “Declaration D'Immatriculation: Personne Physique Exploitant une Enterprise Individuelle”. The fee is $32.00.

Partnership
If you fall into the partnership category, which includes joint ventures, and limited partnerships, your registration process is similar to that of a sole proprietorship. With the completion of a successful name search and reservation, the final step is to complete the partnership forms and pay the required fees to the REQ. The form for this category is titled “Declaration D'Immatriculation: Societe En Nom Collectif.” The fee this process is $32.00.

Corporation
You can choose to incorporate your business regardless of how many people have an ownership stake. This process carries a higher filing fee of $212.00. The necessary form for this process is called the “Declaration D'Immatriculation: Personne Morale”. These forms are to be filed, along with the Articles of Incorporation to the REQ.

You may find it helpful to seek legal help for completing the incorporation process.

For more information:

Le Registraire des entreprises
800, place D'Youville
Québec
G1R 4Y5
Telephone: (418) 643-3625
Toll free: 1 888 291-4443

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