Regardless of the size of your corporation, you are obligated to file an annual return if your corporation’s legal status is “active” (that is, not dissolved, discontinued or amalgamated with another corporation). Your annual return must be signed by an individual who has the relevant knowledge of the corporation and who is authorized by the directors.
Purpose of the annual return
The annual return is a document that provides information about your corporation. This information lets your jurisdiction of incorporation registries office making sure that your corporation complies with certain requirements of their provincial business corporation act.
It also allows your jurisdiction of incorporation registries office to keep its database of corporations up to date. This information is made available to the public on Search for a provincial corporation. The information found in the database allows investors, consumers, financial institutions and many others to make informed decisions about your corporation.
Deadline
Every corporation must submit an annual return every year to Corporations Canada within 60 days of its anniversary date. The anniversary date is the month and day on which the corporation was created or the date on which the corporation first came under the jurisdiction of your provincial business corporation act. (be it the date of incorporation, amalgamation or continuance). You do not need to file for the year the corporation was incorporated, amalgamated or continued.
For a corporation that has been revived, the anniversary date remains the date on which it was created (be it the date of incorporation, amalgamation or continuance).
