How to Register a Business in Ontario: Business Name Registration Explained

The registration in one paragraph

Registering a business in Ontario is a name registration, not a permission slip: under the Business Names Act, you file the name you trade under with the Ontario Business Registry, get a 9-digit Business Identification Number, and trade legally under that name for five years. The filing is $60 online and processed immediately — the $300 incorporation people sometimes confuse it with is a separate, heavier process. Everything below walks through the exact-name test that decides whether you must register, the filing itself, and the two compliance dates that quietly matter most.

Step 1: Run the exact-name test

This is the whole decision, and it's narrower than most people expect. Ontario's Business Names Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. B.17 requires registration only when you carry on business under a name other than your own name:

• Sole proprietor under your own full legal name — "Jane Smith" — you do not register. Add anything ("Jane Smith Design", "Smith's Plumbing") and you must.
• Partnership under the partners' full names — "Smith and Jones" using both partners' full names — no registration. Leave a partner's name out or add a brand, and the firm name must be registered.
• Corporation under a name other than its corporate name — any trade name, "doing business as" name, or second public-facing brand — must be registered as a business name even though the corporation already exists.
• LLPs, extra-provincial LLPs, and out-of-province corporations operating in Ontario — all register; an out-of-province corporation also has to be properly registered to carry on business in Ontario in the first place.

One narrow exception worth knowing: the personal-name rule is exact. A sole proprietor who carries on business under their exact full legal name, with nothing added, does not register — as soon as you add a word, such as a trade or a location, the name becomes a business name and the Act requires you to register it.

Step 2: Check the name (free)

Before you file, search the Ontario Business Registry for free to see whether your name is already taken. The name rules in O. Reg. 399/21 bar names that are contrary to public policy, suggest a connection with the Crown or a government, or use words prohibited or restricted under another Act — so have a couple of backup names ready.

The trap to avoid here: NUANS. A NUANS (Newly Updated Automated Name Search) report is required only when you incorporate a named Ontario business corporation — it must be an Ontario-biased or weighted report; a federal-biased NUANS report is not accepted. For a sole proprietorship or partnership business name, do not buy one: the free registry search is the check that counts.

Step 3: File through the Ontario Business Registry

The filing goes through ServiceOntario's Ontario Business Registry. What you need:

1. Your chosen business name (checked in Step 2).
2. Your name, address, and a working email address — plus partner details and any partnership agreement for a partnership.
3. A short description of what the business does.
4. A debit or credit card for the $60 online fee.

You'll create an Ontario.ca Login and an Ontario Business Account during the setup process — these are how the province tracks your filings and lets you file amendments and renewals later. Online business name registrations are processed immediately; by-mail filings cost the same $60 and take about 15 business days.

What you get back: the Business Name Registration — the document most people still call a Master Business Licence — and a 9-digit Ontario Business Identification Number (BIN). Banks will ask for the registration when you open a business account; lenders and wholesale suppliers use the BIN.

Step 4: Know what the registration is and isn't

This filing does exactly one job: it lets you legally carry on business, sign contracts, hire employees, open bank accounts, and operate under your business name in Ontario. It does not:

• Create a separate legal entity — a registered sole proprietorship or partnership leaves you personally on the hook for business debts. Only incorporation creates limited liability.
• Grant exclusive rights to the name — registration is not trademark protection. If the name is valuable, a federal trademark is the separate filing that gives you the sole right to use the mark across Canada.
• Replace a municipal business licence — your city or town may still require one for your type of work, and industry regulators have their own licensing. BizPaL lists the permits and licences required from all levels of government.
• Cover your CRA accounts — the BIN is provincial; your federal business number and any GST/HST account are CRA filings made separately.

Registration agents, law firms, and services like the ones you'll find in search results will file for you — but the ministry fee is the same whoever submits it. They add a service fee on top, so filing directly through the Ontario Business Registry is the cheapest route.

Step 5: Calendar the two compliance dates

Registering is the easy part; staying registered is where people slip:

• The 5-year renewal. Every registration runs five years from acceptance. You can renew from 6 months before the expiry date up to 60 days after it — renew through the Ontario Business Registry with your BIN. Do not count on a reminder: the renewal option appears on your registry account 6 months before the expiry date. If it's been expired more than 60 days, you can't renew: you must file a new registration, which gives you a new BIN, and you've been trading without a registered name in the gap.
• The 15-day amendment rule. If any registered information changes — your address, your business activity, your partners — the Business Names Act requires you to file an amended registration within 15 days of the change. It's done online through the Ontario Business Registry.

Also note: each business name is its own registration with its own five-year clock. If your corporation trades under three operating names, that's three registrations, three fees, and three expiry dates to track.

Startup checklist

• Exact-name test run: do you actually need to register?
• Name checked free on the Ontario Business Registry (backups ready)
• Business Name Registration filed online ($60) — not confused with the $300 incorporation
• 9-digit BIN received and saved
• Expiry date in your calendar (5 years out) — the renewal option appears on your account 6 months ahead
• Federal next steps: CRA business number (free), GST/HST account once your worldwide taxable supplies pass $30,000 in a single calendar quarter or over four consecutive calendar quarters
• Business bank account opened (banks will ask for the registration)
• Municipal business licence checked with your city or town
• Amendment process known: 15 days to report changes

Related guides

• How to Get a Business Number in Canada — the federal tax identifier the checklist names: what the 9-digit BN is, the RT/RP/RC program accounts that hang off it, and Business Registration Online versus Form RC1 by mail.
• How to Register a Business in British Columbia — the companion province guide: BC's two-stage process with the $30 Name Request, the 56-day reservation clock, and why BC has no 5-year renewal cycle.
• How to Register a Sole Proprietorship and Get a GST/HST Number in Canada — the national sole-proprietorship walkthrough: provincial registration, CRA business number, and the $30,000 GST/HST threshold.
• How to Register for GST/HST in Canada — the federal tax registration that usually follows: the three registration routes, what you need before you start, and the Quebec exception.
• How to Incorporate: Federal vs Provincial in Canada — when a business name registration isn't enough and you need the separate legal entity: the $300 Ontario incorporation and the federal route compared.
• How to Incorporate in Ontario — the $300 incorporation itself, walked end to end: named vs numbered companies, the Ontario-biased NUANS, articles requirements, the minute book, and the $0 annual return.
• How to Open a Canadian Business Bank Account as a Non-Resident — the three entity lanes for non-resident founders: Canadian subsidiary, extra-provincial registration, or foreign-owned Canadian company.
• How to Open a Business Bank Account in Canada — what comes after registration: the account your bank won't open without the registration document.
• Best Business Bank Accounts for New Businesses in Canada Compared — the side-by-side comparison of fees, e-Transfer allowances, and promos for new businesses.
• How to Look Up a GST/HST Number in Canada — verifying the other party's tax registration before you sign.

Sources

• Ontario, Register your business online — the free registry name search, the $60 fees for a sole proprietorship, general partnership and limited liability partnership, the Ontario-biased NUANS rule, and the 9-digit Ontario Business Identification Number, distinct from the CRA business number
• Ontario, Ontario Business Registry: all services — a registration is valid for 5 years, renewal from 6 months before to 60 days after the expiry date at the same $60, a new Business Identification Number once a registration has been expired for more than 60 days, the Business Name Registration as the former Master Business Licence, and no fee to cancel a sole proprietorship
• Ontario, Cost and time required to register, change or search for a business name, corporation or not-for-profit — the ministry fee chart, updated September 29, 2026: a new business name registration or renewal is $60 online (immediate) and $60 by mail (15 business days), an amendment or cancellation is $0, incorporation is $300, and a corporation annual return is $0
• Ontario, Business Names Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. B.17 — the section 2 registration duties for corporations, individuals and partnerships, the five-year term in section 4 (1.1), the amended registration within 15 days in section 4 (4), renewal before expiry and within 60 days after it in section 5, and the offence fines in section 10
• Ontario, O. Reg. 399/21, General, under the Business Names Act — the Part I name rules: no name contrary to public policy, suggesting a connection with the Crown or a government, or using a word prohibited or restricted under an Act
• Ontario, Partnerships Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.5 — sections 44.3 and 44.4: a limited liability partnership and an extra-provincial limited liability partnership must register their firm names under the Business Names Act, and the Ontario LLP firm name ends with the LLP wording
• Canada Revenue Agency, When do you need a business number — when a business number is needed, and that an unincorporated business needs one only when it registers for CRA program accounts
• Canada Revenue Agency, When to register for and start charging GST/HST — the $30,000 small supplier test: a single calendar quarter, or four consecutive calendar quarters
• Canada Revenue Agency, Guide RC4022, General Information for GST/HST Registrants — a small supplier is at $30,000 or less of worldwide taxable supplies in a single calendar quarter and over the last four consecutive calendar quarters
• Canadian Intellectual Property Office, Trademarks guide — a registered trademark gives the sole right to use the mark across Canada for 10 years, renewable every 10 years
• BizPaL, Frequently asked questions — the free service that lists the permits and licences a business needs from all levels of government