Once the government processes your incorporation documents, you will see this message on Ownr confirming that your company has been incorporated:

Then you and your business partners will be asked to eSign all of the corporate organizational documents via Ownr. Once that's completed, you will have a few more things to consider to get your business on the right track.

The Business Number is used for tax purposes and opening accounts with the CRA. Generally, the Business Number is assigned by the CRA within moments of the business registration being completed. For Ontario provincial corporations, however, it can take up to 4 business days for the business number to be assigned.

Once assigned, the Business Number will be listed in your Ownr dashboard under “Organization” > “Company Info”.

If you do not see the Business Number in your Ownr dashboard, then it has not been assigned. Please inquire with the CRA by calling their small business helpline at 1-800-959-5525. Or you can contact the applicable business registry for more information. See our article Where's My Business Number? for more information.

First, you'll want to set up your business bank account. You will not get the benefits of incorporating if you do not separate your personal funds from your business funds.

When going to the bank, make sure to bring your Articles of Incorporation. The bank will ask to see the Certificate of Incorporation (page 2), and they might also ask for confirmation that you are a director of the corporation. Make sure the new bank account is opened under your full corporate name.

You can enter your banking details into Ownr so all your important corporate information is safely stored in one place.

To learn more about why it's so important to open a separate bank account for your company, click here.

Once the bank account is set up, each shareholder needs to pay for their shares by depositing money into the business bank account. For a new corporation, the shareholders usually pay a nominal amount.

To figure out how much each shareholder should pay, look at the First Directors Resolution document. To access this document, click Organization on the left menu, then click Minute Book. You'll then see a list of all your documents. Click

First Directors Resolution document:

When you click the document, in the Overview section of the Summary, it will list all shareholders and the amount each shareholder is required to pay:

For this company, both Travis Houlette and Derek Hopfner have to pay $5.00 each for all of their shares. The listed price is always for the full number of shares given to each shareholder. Aggregate Subscription Price = Total Subscription Price. This is not the price per share.

To pay for the shares, both shareholders should deposit the Aggregate Subscription Price (in this example, $5.00) into the new business bank account. The best way to do this is for each shareholder to issue a cheque from their personal bank accounts into the business bank account. If you don't have cheques, then an email money transfer will work fine. It is not recommended that you pay by cash, as there is no written record of the payment.

Determine whether you will register for a GST/HST Number. If you anticipate earning more than $30,000 in annual gross revenue, you are required to register for a GST/HST Number and charge sales tax to your customers. If you will not reach the $30,000 threshold, registering for and charging sales tax is optional.

While it is not legally required, it often makes sense to register for a GST/HST Number early, rather than waiting to hit the $30,000 threshold. This way, you will be accumulating tax credits for any business expenses you incur, and you may be entitled to a tax refund.

If you operated a business prior to incorporating, you will need to close down your old GST/HST Number, if you had one, and open a new one under the name of the corporation.

To learn more about registering for your GST/HST Number, click here.

Ownr provides entrepreneurs with free educational resources on how to build your business. Sign up for these resources here.

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Ownr is the fastest and easiest way to fully incorporate and manage your business. Register your business today and get up to $300 back with an RBC bank account. Get started here.