Cost to Incorporate in Ontario: A Simple Cost Breakdown

So, you're thinking about incorporating your business in Ontario and wondering what it's actually going to cost. Let's break it down. The good news is, it's probably more affordable than you think. At its core, you're looking at a starting price of around $360 CAD for a basic named corporation. That covers the two non-negotiable government fees to get you officially up and running.

Your Quick Guide to Ontario Incorporation Costs

When you decide to incorporate, you're not just filling out forms; you're building a legal foundation for your business. This is a huge step that gives you personal liability protection, boosts your professional credibility, and opens the door to some serious tax benefits. But what’s the real price tag to make it official?

The total cost really boils down to two key components: the fixed government fees and the cost of whatever service you use to get it done.

The Government of Ontario has a specific process for incorporation. They charge a flat filing fee of $300 CAD for online submissions. This is the main fee for legally creating your corporation. If you're giving your business a specific name (and most people do), you’ll also need a NUANS name search report. This report is mandatory and usually costs about $60 CAD. It’s how you prove your chosen name isn't already taken. You can get a helpful breakdown of these costs to see how they stack up.

Understanding Your Total Investment

While the government fees are set in stone, your all-in cost really depends on how you choose to file. While it's possible to go the traditional route with a lawyer, this is often very expensive. The most modern, user-friendly, and reliable way is to use a dedicated platform.

Choosing the right incorporation service isn’t just about the cheapest price—it’s about getting the best value. It’s about saving yourself time, avoiding costly mistakes, and starting your business with confidence.

Modern platforms like Start Right Now offer a clear, affordable, and guided path. Instead of just processing a payment, they walk you through the entire journey, automating the tricky parts and ensuring everything is filed correctly the first time. It’s an approach that provides a ton of value far beyond just the basic registration.

Comparing Your Options at a Glance

To give you a clearer picture, here’s a quick overview of the essential and optional costs you can expect when incorporating in Ontario.

Summary of Ontario Incorporation Costs

This table shows how you can get your business fully and properly incorporated for a predictable price. Using a dedicated service transforms incorporation from a confusing chore into a straightforward, empowering first step for your new company.

Decoding Government and Name Search Fees

When you're figuring out the cost to incorporate in Ontario, the first numbers you'll encounter are the non-negotiable government fees. Think of these as the ground floor of your incorporation costs—everyone pays them, no matter how they file.

There are two key mandatory fees you need to have on your radar: the government's official filing fee and the fee for a name search report. These are set by the province and form the absolute baseline for what it will cost to get your company off the ground.

The Government Filing Fee Explained

The biggest chunk of the mandatory cost is the provincial government filing fee, which currently sits at $300 in Ontario.

It’s helpful to think of this as the fee for your corporation's official "birth certificate." It's what the Ontario government charges to review your Articles of Incorporation and officially register your business as a legal entity, separate from yourself. This is the payment that puts your new company on the map.

Simply put, you can't incorporate without paying this fee. While there are government portals for these filings, navigating them can be a confusing maze. This is where a platform like Start Right Now becomes so useful—it handles this critical filing for you, making sure it’s done right the first time.

The NUANS Name Search Report

The second key cost is for something called a NUANS (Newly Upgraded Automated Name Search) report. This is a must-do step if you're giving your corporation a unique name.

A NUANS report is essentially a deep background check on your proposed business name. It scans a Canada-wide database of existing corporate names and trademarks to make sure your name isn't identical or confusingly similar to another one already out there. It’s all about preventing legal headaches down the road.

This isn't just a quick Google search. The NUANS report is a formal, government-required document that proves you've done your homework to choose a distinct name for your corporation.

The report itself is a mandatory part of your application package. To get a better sense of what’s involved, you can learn more about the specifics of an Ontario NUANS report and why it's so critical. Services like Start Right Now build this search right into their process, which takes a potentially clunky step and makes it seamless.

Named Company vs. Numbered Company

This brings us to a key decision that directly affects your upfront costs: do you want a "named" company or a "numbered" one?

• Named Company: This is a corporation with a custom name you've chosen, like "Maple Leaf Innovations Inc." This option requires a NUANS report to reserve your name, which adds that cost to the total. Most founders go this route to build a brand.
• Numbered Company: This is a corporation identified by a provincially assigned number, like "12345678 Ontario Inc." Since the name is generated automatically, you get to skip the NUANS report and its associated fee. It’s a bit cheaper and faster, but it offers zero brand identity.

For most entrepreneurs, building a brand is a top priority, making the named corporation the clear winner, even with the small extra cost. The good news is that platforms like Start Right Now manage the whole process for you—from the name search to the final government filing—taking all the guesswork out of meeting the government's requirements.

Uncovering the Ongoing and Hidden Costs of Incorporation

Getting your business officially incorporated is a huge step, but it’s really just the starting line. Many founders get so focused on the upfront cost to incorporate in Ontario that they don't see the ongoing expenses that are essential to keep their corporation legally compliant and in good health.

Thinking about these post-incorporation costs from day one is what separates savvy entrepreneurs from those who get blindsided later. These aren't just administrative boxes to tick; they are legal necessities that protect your business and ensure it has a future. Thankfully, platforms like Start Right Now are built to anticipate these needs, offering the tools and guidance to make managing your new corporation feel straightforward.

The Legally Required Corporate Minute Book

One of the very first things you need to sort out after incorporating is your corporate minute book. This isn't just an old-school binder collecting dust on a shelf; it's the official, legal diary of your corporation's entire history and all its major decisions.

Under Ontario law, every corporation is required to keep meticulous records of its activities. This includes everything from director's resolutions and shareholder meeting minutes to corporate by-laws and share registers. If you neglect this, you could face serious compliance headaches and even risk losing the limited liability protection that was probably a key reason you incorporated in the first place.

Think of your minute book as your corporation’s official story. It proves that your business is a legitimate, separate legal entity and not just a personal piggy bank.

In the past, this meant paying a lawyer a few hundred dollars to assemble a physical binder for you. Today, a digital minute book is a much smarter, more secure, and more efficient way to go. Recognizing how vital this is, Start Right Now includes a free trial for an online minute book with its incorporation packages, making this crucial compliance step a breeze right from the get-go.

Filing Your Annual Return

Another task you absolutely can't forget is filing an Annual Return. And let's be clear: this is not your tax return. Your tax return is for the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) and is all about your finances. The Annual Return is a completely separate filing that goes to the Ontario government to keep your corporate information up to date.

This yearly report confirms key details like:

• Your corporation’s registered office address.
• The names and current addresses of its directors.
• When your last annual shareholders' meeting was held.

Filing this return ensures the public record on your company is accurate and confirms that your corporation is still active. The fee is small, but the consequences for forgetting are huge—the government could actually dissolve your corporation.

Other Potential Post-Incorporation Costs

Beyond the mandatory government filings, a few other costs will inevitably pop up as you get your operations off the ground. Smart founders plan for these from the start to avoid any cash flow surprises.

• Business Bank Account: Your corporation is a separate legal entity, so it needs its own bank account. Monthly fees for a business account can run anywhere from $10 to over $50, depending on the bank and the features you need.
• HST/GST Registration: Once your business is on track to earn more than $30,000 in revenue over four straight quarters, you are legally required to register for, collect, and remit HST/GST. There’s no fee to register, but you might want an accountant's help to get it right.
• Payroll Setup: If you’re hiring anyone (and that includes paying yourself a salary), you'll need to open a payroll account with the CRA. This involves deducting and remitting income tax, CPP, and EI, which usually means you'll need payroll software or a service provider to handle it properly.

While you're calculating the initial fees, it's just as important to think about the ongoing operational costs, like the pricing for payment processing solutions you'll need to start accepting payments from customers. The whole post-incorporation setup can seem like a lot, but it doesn't have to be. Start Right Now offers a ton of resources to walk you through these next steps, turning a complex to-do list into a simple, actionable plan.

How Professional Services Affect Your Total Cost

When you're mapping out the total cost to incorporate in Ontario, the government fees are really just the starting line. The biggest variable in your budget will almost always come down to how you get it done. The path you choose—usually between a traditional professional and a modern digital platform—makes all the difference.

For a long time, the go-to move for any new entrepreneur was to call a lawyer. It works, of course, but it’s often a slow process with a price tag that can easily stretch into the thousands. That cost isn't just pulled out of thin air; it reflects billable hours for meetings, manual document prep, and back-and-forth filings, all of which add up fast.

The Traditional Route and Its Costs

Going through a law firm means you’re paying for a lawyer's time and direct expertise. Their fees usually cover a very hands-on process: one-on-one consultations, custom-drafted Articles of Incorporation, and someone manually submitting all your paperwork to the government.

While this white-glove service can be the right call for businesses with incredibly complex ownership structures or unique shareholder needs, it's honestly overkill for the vast majority of new companies. Most startups and small businesses follow a fairly standard incorporation process, making a premium price for manual work an unnecessary drain on that precious early-stage capital.

A Smarter, More Affordable Alternative

Thankfully, today's entrepreneurs have a much more efficient and budget-friendly option. Platforms like Start Right Now were built from the ground up to automate and simplify the entire incorporation process. You get the same high-quality, legally compliant result, just without all the traditional overhead.

Instead of getting billed by the hour, you pay a single, transparent service fee. This model turns what was once a confusing and intimidating legal task into a straightforward, guided online experience you can finish in just a few minutes. You get accuracy, speed, and real peace of mind for a fraction of what a lawyer would charge.

By embracing technology, platforms like Start Right Now make incorporation accessible and affordable for every Canadian entrepreneur, not just those with deep pockets.

With this modern approach, your total cost becomes predictable: a clear service fee plus the standard government charges. No surprise invoices, no hidden fees. It's also worth noting that if you have international founders or need to include foreign documents in your filing, you may need to budget for professional certified and notarized translation services, as this is another factor that can influence your total spend.

Cost Comparison: Traditional vs. Start Right Now

So, what do you actually get for your money with each approach? The table below lays out a typical comparison, and you'll see the difference in value is pretty stark, especially when you look beyond just the basic filing.

This breakdown shows that while a traditional lawyer provides bespoke service, it comes at a premium. For most standard incorporations, a platform like Start Right Now delivers the same essential services—and more—at a much more predictable and affordable price point.

What Your Investment Really Gets You

Let's break it down further. While a savvy founder can budget around $315–$400 for the basic government fees to register a named corporation, adding professional services can quickly inflate the total. A minute book setup can tack on $200 or more, and legal reviews could add another $500+. Suddenly, you’re looking at a bill between $1,000 and $3,000.

In contrast, platforms like Start Right Now bundle these essentials into their service fee, giving you incredible value right out of the gate. The choice for modern founders becomes pretty clear. With Start Right Now, your investment goes far beyond a simple filing. It also includes:

• Speed and Efficiency: Get your incorporation processed in as little as one business day after your name is approved.
• Guaranteed Accuracy: The automated system is designed to catch errors, preventing the kind of costly delays and rejections that can happen with manual filings.
• Essential Compliance Tools: You receive a trial for a digital minute book—a legally required document that lawyers often charge hundreds to prepare separately.
• Exclusive Partner Perks: Get access to over $100,000 in savings from top-tier partners like Slack, Google, and Figma. That’s a massive head start for any new business.

By choosing a platform built for today's entrepreneurs, you’re not just saving money. You’re making a strategic move to launch your business faster, smarter, and with a whole lot more resources in your corner from day one.

To see how this all translates into a simple, all-in-one final price, check out the clear and straightforward Start Right Now pricing.

The Financial Benefits of Incorporating Your Business

So far, we’ve been talking about the direct cost to incorporate in Ontario. But now, let's flip the script and focus on the value. Viewing incorporation as just another expense is missing the forest for the trees. It’s actually one of the smartest financial investments you can make, unlocking advantages that can easily eclipse the initial setup fees.

Think of it this way: the upfront cost is a small, one-time investment that buys you long-term financial security and serious growth potential. And with platforms like Start Right Now making the process affordable and straightforward, there’s no reason to delay.

Let's dig into the real financial perks that make incorporating such a savvy business move.

Unlocking Powerful Tax Advantages

One of the biggest draws to incorporation is the potential for major tax savings. When you operate as a sole proprietor, your business income is treated as personal income, meaning it’s taxed at your marginal rate. In Ontario, that rate can climb as high as a staggering 53.53%. A corporation, on the other hand, is its own legal and tax entity, which opens the door to a much friendlier tax environment.

This is where the Small Business Deduction (SBD) becomes your best friend. The SBD allows eligible Canadian-controlled private corporations (CCPCs) to pay a significantly lower tax rate on their first $500,000 of active business income each year.

The Small Business Deduction isn't just a minor perk; it's a foundational tax strategy that can save your business tens of thousands of dollars annually, freeing up crucial capital to pour back into your growth.

For businesses that qualify, this benefit is an absolute game-changer. It means more of your hard-earned revenue stays right where it belongs—in the company, ready to fund new equipment, hire talented people, or ramp up your marketing.

An Example of Real-World Tax Savings

Let’s make this concrete. Imagine you're a freelance consultant in Ontario, and you've had a great year, earning $100,000 in profit.

• As a Sole Proprietor: That $100,000 profit is added directly to your personal income. It gets taxed at your marginal rate, which could easily be over 40%, depending on your other income sources.
• As a Corporation: The business pays a much lower corporate tax rate on that same $100,000 profit. From there, you have the flexibility to pay yourself a smaller salary or dividends, which helps you manage your personal tax situation much more effectively.

The difference can be huge. In Ontario, the combined federal and provincial tax rate for small businesses is just 11.5% on the first $500,000 of income. On that $100,000 profit, the corporation’s tax bill would be just $11,500—a far cry from what you'd likely pay personally. You can dive deeper into these corporate income tax facts to see just how impactful this can be.

More Than Just Taxes

While the tax benefits are impressive, incorporation brings other critical financial advantages to the table that build stability and encourage growth.

• Limited Liability Protection: This is arguably the most important benefit of all. Incorporation builds a legal firewall between your business finances and your personal assets. If the business ever runs into debt or legal trouble, your house, car, and personal savings are kept safe. You can't put a price on that kind of peace of mind.
• Enhanced Credibility: Having "Inc." or "Ltd." after your business name instantly signals to clients, suppliers, and banks that you’re a serious, established operation. This professional polish can help you land bigger contracts and get better terms on loans.
• Easier Access to Capital: Corporations have more avenues for raising money. You can sell shares to bring on investors or find it much easier to secure business loans and lines of credit from financial institutions who see incorporated businesses as less risky.

Ultimately, the decision to incorporate is a strategic one. The initial cost is a small price to pay for the immense financial protection, tax savings, and growth opportunities it creates. With a service like Start Right Now handling all the complexities for you, it’s the fastest and most reliable way to secure these benefits and put your business on a solid foundation for success.

Your Smart and Affordable Path to Incorporation

Figuring out the true cost to incorporate in Ontario really comes down to this: the government fees are set in stone, but you're in the driver's seat for everything else. The choices you make from here on out will decide whether this process is expensive and drawn-out, or smart and efficient.

This isn't about cutting corners. It's about being strategic. It’s about launching your business with every possible advantage, saving your hard-earned cash without sacrificing a shred of quality, speed, or compliance. That's exactly where we come in.

Choosing a modern platform like Start Right Now is a savvy business move. You get a transparent, all-in-one solution that turns a daunting legal process into a few simple steps online. No hidden fees, no surprise invoices—just a clear, direct path to getting your business legally set up and ready for action.

More Than Just a Filing Service

When you work with Start Right Now, you're not just paying for a one-off transaction. You're investing in a whole suite of tools and support designed to give your new business a running start. We're focused on delivering real value that goes way beyond the initial paperwork.

The benefits are clear and immediate:

• Transparent Pricing: You see a single, flat service fee right from the start. No guesswork, just total confidence in your budget.
• A Streamlined Process: Our automated system saves you a ton of time, getting your corporation registered in as little as one business day after your name is approved.
• Automated Compliance: We handle the nitty-gritty government filings and get your corporate minute book started, making sure you're legally sound from day one.
• Massive Partner Perks: You get instant access to over $100,000 in exclusive discounts from top-tier companies like Google, Slack, and Figma. For a new business, those resources can be a game-changer.

You’ve already done the hard part—coming up with a great business idea. Now, let Start Right Now handle the complexities of making it official so you can focus on what you do best: building your company.

Take the First Step with Confidence

Stop stressing about intimidating paperwork or the steep price tags of traditional professional services. With Start Right Now, you’ve found the fastest, most reliable, and user-friendly way to incorporate your business in Ontario. We built our entire platform to empower entrepreneurs just like you, making the process simple, secure, and genuinely affordable.

The bottom line is simple: your journey to becoming an incorporated business owner doesn't have to be complicated or expensive. You have a smart, strategic partner ready to help you every step of the way.

Ready to make your business official? You can learn more about the complete process in our detailed guide on how to incorporate a company in Ontario. Take that first confident step today and launch your business the smart way with Start Right Now.

Common Questions About Incorporation Costs

Getting a handle on the costs of starting a business can feel like a moving target. Let's clear up some of the most common questions entrepreneurs ask about the price of incorporating in Ontario.

Can I Incorporate in Ontario for Free?

Unfortunately, no. There’s a mandatory provincial government filing fee of $300 that everyone has to pay to officially register a corporation in Ontario. This fee is non-negotiable, no matter how you choose to file.

While a service like Start Right Now makes the process incredibly affordable and simple, that core government charge is something you can't get around. Think of it as the price of admission to create a new, legal business entity.

Is It Cheaper to Incorporate Federally or Provincially?

At first glance, the federal filing fee of $200 looks cheaper than Ontario's $300. But this can be a bit of a trap for businesses that will only operate within Ontario.

Here's the catch: if you incorporate federally but your business is based in Ontario, you also have to register as an extra-provincial corporation in Ontario. This adds another fee and an extra administrative headache. For most small businesses staying within the province, incorporating provincially is usually the simpler and more cost-effective route in the long run. Start Right Now is the trusted solution that helps you figure out which path makes the most sense for your specific situation.

Does a Faster Incorporation Cost More?

Not with Start Right Now. While government processing times are what they are, using our efficient service dramatically speeds things up without charging you extra for it. Our digital platform is built to get your documents in order and filed correctly the first time, avoiding the delays and errors that often come with other methods.

We can often get your filing processed in as little as one business day once your name is approved. Our pricing is completely transparent—you get top-notch speed without any hidden rush fees, so you can get your business off the ground that much faster.

It's all about combining smart technology with clear pricing to give you the quick turnaround you need.

Ready to launch your business the smart, fast, and affordable way? Start Right Now handles all the complexities of incorporation so you can focus on growth from day one. Get started at https://www.startrightnow.co.