Ontario Sole Proprietorships - Read This Before You Register

Ontario Sole Proprietorships are governed by the Business Names Act (Ontario)

. An Ontario Sole Proprietorship is sometimes called an Ontario Trade Name. It is a good idea to look over the statute requirements to ensure you comply with them properly.

The legislation indicates that a person must not carry on business under another name other than his or her own name or identify his or her business to the public under a name other than his or her own name unless the business name has been registered by that individual. You do not have to do a registration if you are carrying on business under your own name.

An Ontario Nuans name search report is not required when registering an Ontario sole proprietorship. The Business Names Act (Ontario) has no requirement for an Ontario trade name / Ontario sole proprietorship to be different than other Ontario registrations. You are allowed to register the exact same name as another sole proprietorship already registered with the Ontario government. Should you register a name that is the same as another name already registered? Absolutely not, unless you are connected in some way to that other registration or have written permission to register the name.

A preliminary name search should be done to ensure your name is available and a search house can do this for you for a small fee. Many search houses will clear your name in advance for free if you chose their service when registering your Ontario trade name. It is important that you have your name cleared by an experienced search house. These businesses are trained to check out a name right across Canada and clear it for you. Many businesses are doing business online and will do business in other provinces so it is even important that you do not register a name that is the same or close to a name in British Columbia for instance. Attempting to clear your own name without the assistance of a search house can create problems. If you pick a name that is the same as another name the government will not let you know this in advance of registration. Situations have occurred where an individual had to register another name right after registration of a sole proprietorship because he found out after the fact that there was a conflict.

Five years is the period of time in which the Ontario sole proprietorship will be in place. The Ontario government issues a Master Business Licence for the Ontario sole proprietorship and this comes in the form of a pdf document when you place an order with an Ontario service provider online. The expiry date on the Master Business License will be shown at the bottom. The onus is on you to ensure you renew your business just prior to that date. The Ontario government does not send out reminder notices.

Just to clarify, Ontario company names are unique and no one can register a company with the exact same name as another company. It is only business names that are not protected.

If any information on the Ontario sole proprietorship changes you must file an amendment within fifteen days. You cannot amend the name of an Ontario sole proprietorship. If you wish to change the name you must register a new Ontario trade name.

A dissolution of an Ontario sole proprietorship must be filed if you no longer wish to carry on business under the name you have registered.

The Ontario sole proprietorship registration does not stay in place forever. The Master Business Licence will have an expiry date on it. You must ensure you renew the registration a few days before the expiry date. The government will not remind you about this.

by: Holly Crosgrey

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