How to Incorporate in BC: A Step-by-Step Guide (2026)

A BC corporation is a separate legal entity, with its own records, tax returns and filing obligations. Incorporation can support investment and limit some shareholder liability, but it does not remove personal guarantees or directors' statutory obligations. Whether it is useful depends on your business, ownership and costs.

This guide covers an ordinary company incorporated under BC's Business Corporations Act. Federal incorporation and other BC entity types use different processes.

Step 1: Choose a name or a numbered company

A numbered company receives its name from the registry and does not need a separate name request. For a named company, obtain name approval before filing. The government's name request fee is $30; the incorporation filing fee is $350. Service-provider and priority charges, where applicable, are additional. Name approval is generally reserved for 56 days, so incorporate before it expires.

Processing time depends on the current queue and service selected. Check the BC name approval instructions and current processing times, rather than treating a fixed turnaround as guaranteed.

Step 2: Prepare the incorporation documents

BC requires an incorporation agreement, articles and an incorporation application. The application supplies the information for the notice of articles, including the authorized share structure, directors and office addresses. The articles set the company's rules. A single class of common shares may suit some businesses, but different ownership, investment or succession arrangements need a structure designed for those facts.

Arrange the registered office and records office in BC. Their delivery addresses must meet the statutory requirements; a post office box alone does not satisfy the delivery-address requirement.

An ordinary BC company needs at least one qualified director. BC does not require that director to be resident in Canada. Directors must meet the Act's qualifications, including being at least 18 and not an undischarged bankrupt. A sole founder may be incorporator, director and shareholder, but the documents and share issuance must actually establish those roles. See the BC incorporation package and Business Corporations Act, including sections 9, 34 and 124.

Step 3: File through BC Registries

Follow the province's incorporation instructions and filing link for Corporate Online. Submit the incorporation application and pay the government filing fee. Retain the certificate of incorporation, notice of articles and incorporation number supplied by the registry. Do not assume that a name request alone creates a corporation.

Step 4: Organize corporate records

Keep the incorporation agreement, articles, certificate, notice of articles, directors' and shareholders' resolutions, and required registers. Record actual share subscriptions and issuances. Electronic records are permitted when the Act's accessibility and reproduction requirements are met; using digital storage does not remove records-office or inspection obligations. See sections 42 to 46 of the Business Corporations Act.

Most private BC companies must also maintain a transparency register identifying significant individuals. The rule began October 1, 2020, with exclusions for specified entities; it is not a universal rule for every corporation registered to do business in BC. A typical privately owned one-person BC company is covered. See the province's transparency register guidance.

Step 5: Confirm the automatic CRA accounts

Incorporation in BC automatically assigns a CRA business number and corporation income tax account. CRA sends confirmation by mail for BC incorporations. Locate that existing BN and RC account before trying to register another business number. See CRA's corporation income tax account instructions.

Other accounts are added when needed:

The GST/HST test includes associated persons and zero-rated supplies, with specified exclusions. Use CRA's registration rules and payroll account guidance for the effective dates and conditions.

Step 6: Set the fiscal year-end

A new corporation can choose a first fiscal period of up to 53 weeks (371 days). Choose a date that suits operations and reporting; incorporation does not create an unlimited deferral. See CRA's fiscal-period rules.

The T2 return is generally due six months after year-end. The tax balance is generally due after two months, extended to three months for CCPCs meeting all the eligibility conditions. Instalments may apply separately. CRA's balance-due rules explain why the filing deadline is not the payment deadline.

Step 7: Open a corporate bank account

Ask the chosen financial institution for its current document list and fee schedule. It will normally need incorporation and ownership information and identity verification. Transaction limits, transfers and account services affect the price, so use the actual quote rather than a generic monthly fee estimate.

Keep the corporation's transactions separate from personal spending and document transfers involving shareholders. A transfer is not automatically a deductible expense simply because it passes through a business account.

Step 8: Check other registrations

BC PST is separate from GST/HST. Taxable goods, software and certain services can create an obligation, subject to registration exceptions. Read BC's registration rules.

The expansion to specified professional services that was scheduled for October 1, 2026 was paused September 18, 2026. Do not register or collect solely on the basis of that paused expansion, but still assess existing taxable supplies. See PST Notice 2026-001.

Check municipal business licences and employment obligations for the actual activity. An active shareholder working for an incorporated company can also trigger WorkSafeBC registration even without other employees; see WorkSafeBC's incorporated-owner guidance.

Costs and ongoing filings

The basic government incorporation cost is $350 for a numbered company, or $380 including a $30 name request for a named company. Add any service-provider, priority, legal, banking or licence costs that apply to your choices.

A BC annual report is due within two months after the incorporation anniversary, beginning the following year. Its government filing fee is $43.39, with possible additional channel charges. This is separate from the T2 and uses the anniversary, not the fiscal year-end. Missing required reports can lead to dissolution; keep the registry address and company records current. See BC's ongoing company requirements.

How Ledg helps

Once the corporation exists, the ongoing job is keeping its books in order. Ledg is Canadian bookkeeping for solo businesses and small corporations. It records GST and PST as separate amounts on every entry, learns the categories you pick so a supplier you have coded once is proposed the next time, and helps track filing dates. T2 dates depend on the fiscal year-end, GST/HST on the assigned reporting period, and the BC Annual Report on the incorporation anniversary. Reminders go out at 30 days, at 7 days, and when something is overdue, which is how the annual report in the list above stops being a surprise. There is a minute book for the records in step 4.

At year-end, the accountant handoff pack gives your accountant the general ledger, trial balance, GST/PST summary and bank reconciliation, and they file the T2 in their own software. Ledg does not file returns today. Filing is planned, with your approval before anything is submitted. No date or price has been announced.

Ledg is free to keep your books, with no entry limit and no credit card. The Solo plan adds bank sync and a connection to Claude or ChatGPT, so you can hand a receipt to the AI agent you already use and confirm the entry in Ledg. More on the corporate side in the books behind your Canadian corporate tax return.