Ontario Annual Return

Definition

The Ontario Annual Return is a mandatory filing under the Corporations Information Act for corporations incorporated or continued under the Ontario Business Corporations Act (OBCA), as well as extra-provincial corporations licensed to carry on business in Ontario. It confirms registered office address, directors, and officers. Before May 15, 2021, Ontario annual returns for OBCA corporations were filed with the T2 corporate tax return as Schedule 546. When the Ontario Business Registry (OBR) launched on October 19, 2021, the annual return was decoupled from the T2 and must now be filed directly through the OBR.

Key rules

• The filing deadline is within six months of the fiscal year-end. For example, a December 31, 2026 year-end corporation must file by June 30, 2027.
• The filing is made online through the Ontario Business Registry (OBR) portal. Paper filings are accepted only in limited exceptional circumstances.
• The filing fee is $60 for for-profit OBCA corporations filing online. Not-for-profit corporations under the ONCA have a separate schedule. (Confirm current fee in the OBR fee schedule.)
• Required information: legal name, Ontario corporation number, registered office address, directors' names and addresses, officers' names and titles, and certain other corporate details.
• Filing cannot be made through the T2. Attaching the former Schedule 546 to the T2 no longer satisfies the requirement; the CRA does not forward the return to Ontario.

Example

A Toronto IT services corporation (OBCA) has a September 30 fiscal year-end. Its 2026 fiscal year ends September 30, 2026. The Ontario Annual Return for the 2026 year must be filed through the OBR by March 31, 2027. The director logs into the OBR using their Ontario Business Identification Number (BIN), confirms the registered office address and list of directors, pays the $60 fee by credit card, and receives an electronic confirmation. Separately, the corporation files its T2 with CRA by March 31, 2027 (six months after year-end), without Schedule 546.

Common mistakes

• Filing Schedule 546 with the T2 in the belief that Ontario still receives the information. Since October 2021, CRA no longer forwards this schedule to Ontario. A separate OBR filing is required.
• Missing the six-month deadline. The deadline is fixed from the fiscal year-end, not from the T2 filing date, though the two happen to coincide at six months post-year-end.
• Failing to update changes during the year. Corporations must file a Notice of Change within 15 days of changes to directors, officers, or the registered office; these are not waiting-room items for the annual return.
• Assuming the annual return is a tax return. It is a corporate registry filing only. The Ontario Ministry of Finance corporate tax filings (now administered by CRA on the T2) are separate.

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