The Corporate Year-End Checklist Every Canadian Corporation Needs

Year-end coming up? The registry annual return isn't on your accountant's checklist — file yours in 1 business day →

A Canadian corporation's year-end is really two checklists, not one. The first is tax: the T2 return, T4 and T5 slips, and GST/HST — your accountant's territory. The second is corporate records: annual resolutions, minute book updates, the transparency (ISC) register and the registry annual return — and this one is routinely missed, because nobody owns it by default. Miss the tax list and the CRA charges penalties and interest. Miss the records list and your corporation can drift out of good standing and eventually be dissolved by the registry.

This checklist covers both tracks, with the deadlines that attach to each.

What does a corporation have to do at year-end in Canada?

Seven items, between the two tracks:

#	Item	Who handles it	Deadline
1	Close the books (reconcile accounts, final financial statements)	Bookkeeper / accountant	Before the T2 is prepared
2	T2 corporate tax return + schedules	Accountant	6 months after your tax year-end
3	Tax balance owing	Accountant	2 months after year-end (3 for many CCPCs)
4	T4 and T5 slips	Accountant / payroll	Last day of February
5	Annual directors' and shareholders' resolutions	Corporation (or CRS)	At/after the annual approval of financials
6	Minute book + transparency (ISC) register updated	Corporation (or CRS)	With the resolutions; ISC changes within 15 days (federal)
7	Registry annual return	Corporation (or CRS)	On your incorporation anniversary — not your fiscal year-end

Items 1–4 are tax work — CRS is a corporate registry agent, not a tax preparer, and never files T2s or slips. Items 5–7 are the corporate-records work this article walks through, because they're the ones that fall through the crack between you and your accountant.

Which tax filings are due after your fiscal year-end?

Four deadlines, all keyed to dates your accountant tracks:

• T2 corporate income tax return: due no later than 6 months after your tax year-end — a December 31 year-end means file by June 30. Every resident corporation files a T2 every year, even with no activity and no tax owing.
• Balance owing: generally due 2 months after year-end — before the return itself. Many Canadian-controlled private corporations qualify for 3 months instead, but the conditions are specific, so confirm which applies to you with your accountant.
• T4 slips (salaries) and T5 slips (dividends): file with the CRA and deliver to employees/shareholders by the last day of February following the calendar year (next business day when it lands on a weekend).
• GST/HST (annual filers): for most annually-filing businesses, the return and final payment are due 3 months after your fiscal year-end, per the CRA's filing-deadline rules.

One deadline here hides a records task: if the corporation paid dividends during the year, the T5 reports them — but the dividends should have been declared by a directors' resolution first. If your accountant is preparing T5s and no resolution exists, that's item 5 on the checklist calling.

What are annual resolutions — and does every corporation need them?

Yes — every Canadian corporation, federal or provincial, is required to deal with certain matters every year, and for most private corporations that happens by written resolutions rather than a physical meeting. The standard annual set:

• Shareholders: receive the financial statements, elect (or re-elect) the directors, and appoint the auditor — or, as almost every private corporation does, unanimously waive the audit requirement for the year.
• Directors: approve the financial statements, declare any dividends, appoint officers, and ratify the year's banking and business.

Single-owner corporations aren't exempt: when you're the only director and shareholder, you sign both sets yourself. It feels like paperwork for its own sake — until a bank, a buyer in due diligence, or a CRA auditor asks for the minute book and the last signed resolutions in it are from the year you incorporated.

If nobody has prepared yours, CRS drafts registry-compliant resolutions for a flat $79 + GST per directors' set and $79 + GST per shareholders' set, delivered in 1 business day — see our guides to director resolutions and shareholder resolutions, or order directly.

When is your registry annual return due — and why isn't it at year-end?

Because the registry annual return runs on your incorporation anniversary, not your fiscal year-end. It's a corporate-law filing that confirms your directors, addresses and shareholdings with the registry — a different filing, to a different office, than your T2. Typical deadlines and government fees:

Jurisdiction	Government fee	Due
Federal (CBCA)	$12	Within 60 days of your anniversary date
Alberta	about $53	Within 1 month of your anniversary month
British Columbia	$43.39	Within 2 months of your anniversary
Ontario	$0	Within 6 months after your fiscal year-end
Saskatchewan	$60	One month after your anniversary month
New Brunswick	$60 (e-filed)	Within 30 days after your anniversary
Nova Scotia	$118.35	In your anniversary month

Ontario is the one exception that does track your fiscal year-end — which is exactly why so many owners assume their accountant files it everywhere. Since 2021, the Ontario annual return is no longer filed with the T2; it goes to the Ontario Business Registry separately.

Skip the annual return and nothing happens at first — then reminders, then loss of good standing, and eventually the registry can dissolve the corporation for non-filing. CRS files annual returns in every Canadian jurisdiction for $159 all-in + tax, in 1 business day — check your corporation and file now.

What belongs in your minute book at year-end?

Five things, once the year's filings are settled:

1. The signed annual resolutions (both sets, filed in the resolutions section).
2. A copy or record of the approved financial statements the resolutions refer to.
3. Any dividend resolutions matching what the T5s will report.
4. Updated registers — directors, officers, shareholders and share transfers, if anything changed during the year.
5. A transparency-register review. Most Canadian corporations must now maintain a register of individuals with significant control (ISC); federally you confirm the information every year when you file the CBCA annual return, and update it within 15 days of any change. Our guide to Canada's corporate transparency registers covers each jurisdiction.

If your minute book is a folder of loose paper — or doesn't exist — year-end is the natural time to fix it. See what a corporate minute book must contain, or have CRS build and organize yours: digital minute books start at $289 self-serve, or from $389 fully built by CRS.

Frequently asked questions

Is the registry annual return the same as my corporate tax return?

No. The T2 goes to the CRA and reports income; the annual return goes to your incorporation registry and confirms corporate details like directors and addresses. Filing one does nothing for the other, and each has its own deadline — the T2 at 6 months after year-end, the annual return on your incorporation anniversary (Ontario excepted).

When are T4 and T5 slips due?

By the last day of February following the calendar year — both filed with the CRA and delivered to the employee or shareholder. When that date falls on a weekend, the deadline moves to the next business day.

Do I need annual resolutions if I'm the only shareholder and director?

Yes. Corporate law requires the annual matters — financial statements, electing directors, auditor appointment or waiver — to be dealt with every year regardless of size. As sole director and shareholder you simply sign both written resolutions yourself.

Does my accountant update my minute book?

Usually not. Accountants prepare the T2 and slips; the minute book, resolutions and registry filings are legal-records work that sits with the corporation. Many owners only discover the gap years later during a financing or sale. CRS prepares resolutions and minute books as flat-fee services.

What happens if I never file my registry annual return?

Your corporation loses good standing, and after enough missed returns the registry can dissolve it — Alberta, for example, strikes corporations after two consecutive missed returns. Revival is possible but costs far more than filing on time.

---

Close the year properly. CRS handles the records side of your year-end — annual return filed for $159 all-in + tax, resolutions from $79 + GST, minute books from $289.

Turnaround: 1 business day for annual returns and resolutions. Price: $159 all-in + tax for annual return filing — no CORES account required.

File your annual return → · Order resolutions → · Build your minute book →