A numbered Ontario corporation skips the NUANS name search and still pays the same $300 online government fee. You file articles, list a real Ontario street address as the registered office, and can be a director from overseas — Ontario dropped director residency on July 5, 2021. Mail can land in Markham while you are still abroad.

This is the tactical sequence, not another "how to start a business in Canada" overview. If you already know you want a numbered company with a Markham registered office, do the steps below in order.

Numbered vs named: same fee, skip NUANS

Ontario lets you incorporate with a number name or a distinct name. A number name looks like "1234567 Ontario Inc." — the province assigns the number. Official wording on ontario.ca: if you are registering a business corporation and you are not using a number name, you need an Ontario-biased or weighted NUANS report. A Canada (federal) biased NUANS will not be accepted.

Skip the name, skip NUANS. The government filing fee is still $300 either way — that figure is listed on Ontario's "Register your business online" page for a Business Corporation.

A numbered corporation is not a lesser company. Same limited liability, same articles, same bank and CRA path. You can register an operating (business) name later if you want the public brand without renaming the corporation. For the branding trade-off, see named vs numbered corporation in Ontario. This post is the how-to once you have already chosen numbered.

Step 1: Ontario.ca login and a Business Account

You file through the Ontario Business Registry, not a paper trip to a counter. You need:

  • a working email
  • an Ontario.ca login
  • an Ontario Business Account
  • a debit or credit card for the $300 fee

If you are still in China or elsewhere, this is all remote. Keep one email you will still have in two years — annual filings and the company key go there.

Ontario will also issue a 9-digit Ontario Business Identification Number (BIN) from ServiceOntario. That is not your CRA Business Number. Ontario says so on the same page. Do not mix the two on bank or GST forms.

Step 2: File the articles (no name, number assigned)

Articles of incorporation are the legal birth certificate. For a numbered company you typically set:

  • Name: leave it as a number name so the Director assigns one (Ontario's Business Corporations Act s. 8(2): if no name is specified in the articles, the corporation is assigned a number name).
  • Share structure: one class of common shares is enough for a simple founder-owned company. Do not invent fancy classes unless a lawyer told you to.
  • Number of directors: a fixed number or a min/max range. One director is allowed.
  • Registered office: a physical location in Ontario.
  • Directors and incorporators: legal names and addresses for service.

File online. Pay $300. Keep the certificate of incorporation, the company key, and a PDF of the articles in a folder you can open from abroad.

Step 3: Registered office must be a real street address

Ontario corporations must at all times have a registered office in Ontario (Business Corporations Act s. 14). The articles and Ontario Business Registry filings expect a full street address — street name and number, municipality, province, postal code. A post office box alone is not acceptable on the official articles instructions and the ministry's incorporating notice.

That address is public. Anyone can look it up. If you list a family condo in Toronto, that condo is on the registry. If you are still overseas, you usually do not have an Ontario home to list — and you may not want one on the record anyway.

A Class-A virtual office at 1005-3601 Highway 7 E., Markham is a real street address, staffed, with a person who can take mail. That is the job of a registered office: a place in Ontario where government and legal mail can be served, not a Google Maps pin (see the separate GBP rules). Confirm in writing that you may use the address as the registered office before you type it into the articles.

Step 4: Directors — Ontario vs federal

Ontario: there is no resident-Canadian director quota. Subsection 118(3) of the Business Corporations Act was repealed. Order in Council 695/2021 named July 5, 2021 as the day Schedule 1, sections 2–9 of the Better for People, Smarter for Business Act, 2020 came into force. Those sections include the repeal. You can be the sole director from Shenzhen, Taipei, or Hong Kong.

Federal (Canada Business Corporations Act): Corporations Canada's page still says that, ordinarily, at least 25 percent of the directors must be resident Canadians; if there are fewer than four directors, at least one must be a resident Canadian. Restricted sectors (airlines, telecom, some cultural businesses) can require a majority. If you do not have a resident Canadian director and you do not need a federal charter, stay provincial.

Directors must be individuals, at least 18, not bankrupt, and capable. A company cannot be a director.

Step 5: CRA Business Number after you incorporate in Ontario

You need a CRA Business Number (BN) once you incorporate. CRA's "When you need a BN" page lists incorporation as a trigger, and it lists Ontario among the provinces where you receive a BN (and a corporation income tax / RC program account) as part of provincial incorporation. You do not register separately with CRA just to get the RC account.

If you filed through Ontario, CRA says you receive a notice by mail confirming the BN and a summary of program accounts. That letter has to land somewhere you control. GST/HST and payroll are extra program accounts you add later if you need them — they are not automatic just because you have an RC account.

Add the BN to your CRA account (My Business Account) when you can. Banks will ask for the certificate and the BN. Keep scans.

Step 6: Mail while you are still overseas

This is the step that fails quietly. The BN letter, annual return reminders, CRA "please respond" notices, and bank cards all go to the registered office or the mailing address on file. If nobody is there, you miss a deadline.

A Markham virtual office from $49/month receives the mail, tells you it arrived, and can scan or forward it weekly while you are still abroad. Live reception answers the phone. When you visit, meeting rooms are $35/hour ($25 for members). You are not renting a desk yet — a dedicated desk is $299/month if you want one later; a private serviced office for two to three people starts at $1,000/month.

For the overseas Chinese founder path (banks, WeChat-era questions, what a virtual office is for), use virtual office for Chinese entrepreneurs in Canada as the companion, not a duplicate of these filing steps. Non-residents who are still weighing extra-provincial vs Ontario can start with register an Ontario business as a non-resident.

After the certificate: operating name, bank, HST

Do these in the weeks after the certificate, not before:

  • Minute book and registers. First directors' resolutions, share issuance, a simple by-law. Ontario expects records at the registered office.
  • Operating name if you will trade as something other than "1234567 Ontario Inc." Register the business name through the Ontario Business Registry when you have chosen it. NUANS is for the corporate name, not this step.
  • Business bank account. Certificate, articles, government ID, and often proof of address. A Markham address helps; a P.O. box does not.
  • HST if you will exceed the small-supplier threshold or want to register early. That is a CRA program account on the same BN, not a new number.
  • Licences that actually apply to your activity. Incorporating does not replace a municipal licence, a WSIB account, or a regulated-profession permit.

When you want the filing done for you rather than clicking through the registry, register is the incorporation path. Pair it with virtual office so the registered office and the mailbox are the same Class-A suite — 1005-3601 Highway 7 E. Call (905) 305-7800 if you are assembling documents from overseas and need the address in writing before you file.