So, you determined that corporation is the right business structure for you. But should you incorporate federally or provincially? Here are the main differences:

1.     Federal corporation provides corporate name protection across the county. This means that you can do business in any province and use your corporate name even thought there might be another company with the same name in a province. With a provincial corporation, you can do business in another province by registering your provincial corporation in the other province, but you can only operate under your chosen name if you there is no other business operating under that name.

2.    If you incorporate federally, you need to register your business in any province you are doing opening offices/stores. This provincial registration costs extra money.

3.    Federal requires slightly more paperwork annually.

Bottom line – Federal is a good choice if you require name protection across Canada or doing business internationally. It is not hassle free, but provincial corporation can be converted to a federal one.