Sole proprietorship (business name registration)Canada · Ontario
What it takes to form, own and run a sole trader in Canada · Ontario, and how its profit is taxed. Each figure links to the page it was read from.
This company type
At a glance
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This income may be earned from a business you operate yourself as a sole proprietorship or with someone else as a partnership.
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This income may be earned from a business you operate yourself as a sole proprietorship or with someone else as a partnership.
Form it
Who registers it
- Registry
- Formed without visiting
- Yes
- Formed online
- Yes
What it takes to form
- A notary
- Not required
- A resident director
- Does not apply
- Paying up the capital
- Not in our records
Own it
Who may own and run it
- Directors
- Does not apply
- Shareholders
- Does not apply
- Members
- At least 1 · at most 1 · one person may form it alone
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This income may be earned from a business you operate yourself as a sole proprietorship or with someone else as a partnership.
- A local company secretary
- Does not apply
- A local registered agent
- Does not apply
Each year, at the registry
- Annual registry fee
- Does not apply
- Accounts on the public record
- No
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Below is a list of all services, forms, notices of filing requirements and terms & conditions.
- Audit for a small company
- Does not apply
- Audit
- Not in our records
Important dates
When each obligation falls due, as the authority states it.
- Renew the business name registration
- 60 months after incorporation
With Ontario Business Registry
Valid for five years; renewable from six months before to 60 days after the expiry date, otherwise a new registration and a new Business Identification Number.
What is public
Not in our records What the register shows the public is not in our records for the Sole proprietorship (business name registration).
Tax
Tax on profit
How this company type is taxed, which can differ from its place’s headline rate.
Through owners
A sole proprietor is not taxed as an entity: business income is reported on line 13500 to line 14300 of the owner's personal income tax and benefit return.
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This income may be earned from a business you operate yourself as a sole proprietorship or with someone else as a partnership.
- CFC rules in Canada
- Not in our records
Close it
Closing it
The other end, which most guides leave out.
- Route
- Cancel the business name registration online under Make changes; there is no fee to cancel a sole proprietorship.
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there is no fee to cancel a sole proprietorship
- Statutory fee
- Free
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there is no fee to cancel a sole proprietorship
Every business in Canada · Ontario
GST
- The tax
- GST/HST (goods and services tax, harmonized with provincial tax in participating provinces)
- Standard rate
- 5%
The federal GST is 5%. HST replaces it at 13% in Ontario, 14% in Nova Scotia and 15% in New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island; Quebec charges the 5% GST plus QST of 9.975%, and other provinces charge the 5% GST plus their own retail sales tax.
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GST/HST and PST rates Province GST and HST PST Alberta 5% 0% British Columbia 5% 7% Manitoba 5% 7% New Brunswick 15% N/A Newfoundland and Labrador 15% N/A Northwest Territories 5% 0% Nova Scotia 14% N/A
- Other rates
- 0% Zero-rated supplies, such as basic groceries
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A zero-rated supply has a 0% GST/HST rate throughout all of Canada. For example, basic groceries are taxable at the rate of zero (0% GST/HST) in every province and territory.
- Registration threshold
- CAD 30,000 · about €19,013
total revenues from taxable supplies in Canada, including zero-rated supplies; a single calendar quarter or four consecutive calendar quarters
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You do not exceed the $30,000 threshold Footnote 1 over four consecutive calendar quarters.
- Voluntary registration
- Yes
A small supplier may choose to register voluntarily if it makes taxable sales, leases or other supplies in Canada.
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You may choose to register voluntarily if you make taxable sales, leases, or other supplies in Canada.
- A foreign company
- The same threshold applies; no local representative required
A non-resident carrying on business in Canada registers under the normal regime only if it makes taxable supplies in Canada and is not a small supplier, so the $30,000 threshold applies to it; a non-resident that does not carry on business in Canada may still have to register under the simplified regime. No representative is required, but a registrant without a permanent establishment must generally give the CRA a security deposit.
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Non-residents who carry on business in Canada must register for the GST/HST under the normal GST/HST regime if they make taxable supplies in Canada and are not small suppliers.
- Returns filed
- Depends on the business
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Assigned and optional reporting periods Annual taxable supplies threshold amounts Assigned reporting period Optional reporting periods $1,500,000 or less Annual Monthly, quarterly More than $1,500,000 up to $6,000,000 Quarterly Monthly More than $6,000,000 Monthly Nil
- Tax authority
- Registration page read 2026-10-22
Payment and banking services
3 services name Canada on their own list: Paysera, Airwallex, Stripe. Each provider, and what a listing means.
Reference
Its name and code
- Kind
- Sole traderDerived our grouping, the same words in every country
- Name in law
- Sole proprietorship (business name registration)
- ISO 20275 code
- 456QSecondary GLEIF, Entity Legal Forms code list