Professional corporation services across Canada

A professional corporation (PC) lets a regulated professional — a physician, dentist, lawyer, accountant, pharmacist, optometrist, chiropractor — run their practice through a corporation instead of personally. Done right, it opens the door to the small business tax rate, income timing, and cleaner succession planning. Done wrong, it gets rejected by one of the two bodies that must each say yes.

That's the part most guides gloss over: a professional corporation in Canada is always a two-step product. Step one is incorporating at the corporate registry — Alberta's Corporate Registry through a registry agent, the Ontario Business Registry, BC's Corporate Online. Step two is obtaining your regulator's authorization to actually practise through it — a permit from CPSA or CPSBC, a certificate of authorization from CPSO, RCDSO, OCP or the Law Society of Ontario, a registration with CPA Ontario or CPA Alberta. Then both must be renewed every year, on different clocks. Corporate Registry Services handles the registry side in every jurisdiction and prepares the regulator package alongside it, so neither step stalls the other.

Who can form a professional corporation

Each province lists the professions allowed to incorporate, and each profession's regulator adds its own rules on names, shareholders, and directors:

Guides for other provinces and professions are coming; the same two-step logic applies everywhere.

The rules that trip people up

Naming is rigid. Most regimes require the professional's own name plus the profession plus the words "Professional Corporation" — "Smith Medicine Professional Corporation" — with nothing extra and no numbered names. Several regulators pre-approve or must endorse the name and even the articles before the registry will accept the filing (CPSA endorses articles first in Alberta; CPA Alberta's Registrar does the same).

Shareholding is restricted, and the restrictions differ by profession. Voting shares must be held by licensed members of the profession — everywhere. Family members can typically hold non-voting shares in medicine and dentistry (spouse, children, parents), but law is stricter: Ontario law PCs allow no family shareholders at all, and CPA Ontario limits shares to members. Holding companies are usually excluded for health professions. If your accountant's structure assumes family shares, check your regulator's rule before filing.

Liability doesn't disappear. Every statute preserves professional liability — the PC shields you from trade creditors and leases, not from negligence claims. Insurance requirements continue unchanged.

Two renewals, two clocks. The registry wants its annual return; the regulator wants its renewal fee and updated shareholder information — CPSO on the anniversary of your certificate's issue date (not June 1, which is your personal registration renewal), RCDSO by August 31 regardless of when your certificate was issued, OCP by March 10, CPSBC before March 1, and both the Law Society of Alberta and the Law Society of Ontario by December 31. Miss the regulator's date and the certificate lapses; practising through a corporation without a valid authorization is a regulatory problem, not a paperwork problem. Our renewals guide puts every deadline in one table.

Why professionals incorporate

The corporate tax rate on active practice income eligible for the small business deduction is far below top personal rates, which lets income you don't need this year stay in the corporation and compound before personal tax — a deferral, not an exemption. Some professionals also access the lifetime capital gains exemption on a sale of qualifying shares, and a corporation gives more control over the timing and form of compensation (salary vs. dividends). What incorporation is not is automatic income splitting — the TOSI rules substantially limit dividends to family members. Whether a PC makes sense at your income level is a conversation for your accountant; making the structure legal, named correctly, and authorized is ours.

What the process looks like with CRS

We confirm your regulator's naming and article requirements first — because that's where do-it-yourself filings bounce. Then, in order: name search or pre-approval (NUANS in Alberta, registry name request in BC, regulator pre-approval where required), articles drafted with the profession-specific restrictions, registry filing, and the regulator application package — application form, certificate of incorporation or certificate of status, declarations and undertakings — submitted the day the incorporation lands. You get both certificates and a renewal calendar.

Frequently asked questions

What is a professional corporation in Canada?

A corporation through which a member of a regulated profession is permitted to practise. It's created under ordinary corporate law (OBCA, ABCA, BC's Business Corporations Act) but only becomes usable once the profession's regulator issues a permit, certificate of authorization, or registration — and it must follow strict naming and shareholder rules.

How much does it cost to set up a professional corporation?

Two fee layers. Registry: about $300 in Ontario, $350 in BC, and a government-plus-agent fee in Alberta. Regulator: for example, $400 (CPSO), $750 (RCDSO), $500 + GST per physician shareholder (CPSA), $525 (Law Society of Alberta). Annual renewals on both layers follow. Professional preparation is extra.

Can my spouse own shares in my professional corporation?

It depends on your profession. Physicians and dentists in Ontario and Alberta may issue non-voting shares to a spouse, children, or parents. Lawyers generally cannot — Ontario law PCs require every share to be owned by licensees. Pharmacists in Ontario also cannot. Always check your regulator's current rule.

Do I incorporate first or apply to my regulator first?

Sequence varies. In Ontario you incorporate first, then apply for the certificate of authorization. In Alberta, CPSA and CPA Alberta must endorse your articles before the registry filing. Getting the order wrong is the most common cause of rejected applications — it's the first thing we check.

Does a professional corporation protect me from being sued?

Not for professional negligence — every professional-corporation statute expressly preserves your personal professional liability, and your college's insurance requirements continue. The corporation does separate business liabilities (leases, loans, suppliers, employees) from your personal assets.

Incorporate your professional corporation — free consultation

Two filings, one deadline-proof plan. In a free consultation, a Corporate Registry Services specialist maps both steps for your practice — the registry incorporation with regulator-compliant articles and naming, and the regulator authorization that lets you practise through it — plus the annual renewals that keep both alive.

Book your free professional corporation consultation →

Related guides

• Professional corporation renewals and compliance calendar
• Professional corporations in Alberta · Ontario · British Columbia
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