Incorporating a new Company In Nova Scotia Checklist

If you are thinking of incorporating a new business in British Columbia, the following checklist may help you. Please note that not all steps will be necessary for every corporation, and there may be some steps that are necessary for your corporation that are not included.

  • Decide to Incorporate
  • File Articles of Incorporation
  • Adopt Corporate Bylaws
  • Create and Maintain a Minute Book
  • Obtain a Business License
  • Get a Business Number
  • Harmonized Sales Tax
  • Register with the WCB
  • Prepare a Shareholders’ Agreement (Optional)
  • Hold Directors’ Organizational Meeting
  • Hold Shareholders’ Organizational Meeting
  • Other Steps

Decide to Incorporate

The decision to incorporate is not one that should be taken lightly or made on a whim. There are advantages to incorporating, but there are also drawbacks. If you are unsure whether you should or how to incorporate, you should talk with both legal and tax professionals to determine if incorporating is the right move for you and your business.

Nova Scotia Incorporation Service.

Business Corporations are incorporated in Nova Scotia, according to the provisions of the Nova Scotia Business Corporation Act with the Nova Scotia Corporations Division. Company Formations Canada provides fast and easy Nova Scotia Incorporation Service.

Our Nova Scotia Incorporation Service includes:

Receipt and review of your incorporation information.

If you choose to incorporate a named company, we conduct a Provincial or NUANS prescreen search of your proposed corporate name and advice you if there are any difficulties with your name.

Preparation and filing of Article of Incorporation.

Personalized ByLaws

Personalized Company Minute Book

Organizational Resolutions

Register of Directors

The resignation of Director Form

Appointment of Corporate Officers

The resignation of Officer Form

Subscription of Shares

Share Certificate

Register of Shareholders

Consent and waiver for allotment of shares

Directors’ resolutions approving the allotment of shares

Consent and waiver for transfer of shares.

Shares Transfer Form

Directors’ Resolutions Approving Transfer of Shares

Bylaws

Notice of Organizational Meeting of Incorporators and Directors

Waiver of Notice of Meeting of Incorporators and Directors

Minutes of Organizational Meeting of Board of Directors

Waiver of Notice First Meeting of Shareholders

Minutes First Meeting of Shareholders

Notice to Directors of Regular Board Meeting

Minutes Shareholders Annual Meeting

Minutes Regular Board Meeting

Provincial-specific startup checklist

File Articles of Incorporation

To register your corporation, you must file a document called the Articles of Incorporation with the province of British Columbia.

Adopt Corporate Bylaws

Corporate Bylaws describe the internal rules governing the management of the corporation. Bylaws describe the duties and obligations of the directors and officers and govern how the corporation will be run. Company Formations offers ByLaws preparation service. Contact us for more information about our Corporate ByLaws preparation service

Create and Maintain a Minute Book

A minute book is a binder, case, or file containing the documents and records that a corporation is required by law to keep. Minute books often include the following documents, amongst others:

Articles of Incorporation

Corporate Bylaws

Minutes of Organizational Meetings

Minutes of Shareholder and Director meetings

Shareholder Agreements

Resolutions Copies of any and all forms filed with the government on behalf of the corporation

Ledgers of directors, officers, shareholders, and share transfers

Nova Scotia Company Minute Books

Company Formations offers fast & easy Nova Scotia Company Minute Book preparation service for only $39.99. We provide personalized Nova Scotia company minute books in MS Word and PDF format that includes:

Organizational Resolutions

Register of Directors

Resignation of Director Form

Appointment of Corporate Officers

Resignation of Officer Form

Subscription of Shares

Share Certificate

Register of Shareholders

Consent and waiver for allotment of shares

Directors’ resolutions approving the allotment of shares

Consent and waiver for transfer of shares.

Shares Transfer Form

Directors’ Resolutions Approving Transfer of Shares

Bylaws

Notice of Organizational Meeting of Incorporators and Directors

Waiver of Notice of Meeting of Incorporators and Directors

Minutes of Organizational Meeting of Board of Directors

Waiver of Notice First Meeting of Shareholders

Minutes First Meeting of Shareholders

Notice to Directors of Regular Board Meeting

Minutes Shareholders Annual Meeting

Minutes Regular Board Meeting

Properly creating and maintain a Minute Book is vital. Corporations that fail to maintain thorough and accurate minute books can face sometimes severe repercussions – in some cases the corporation may even lose its corporate status and the benefits that come with it, including limited liability for shareholders.

Obtain a Business License

For businesses located in cities, towns, villages, or districts, you must contact the Municipal Business License Office in order to obtain a business license. For businesses that are not located in cities, towns, villages, or districts, you should contact the nearest Regional District Office. While obtaining your business license, you should also ensure that your business conforms to land use and zoning bylaws.

Get a Business Number

Once your corporation has been filed with the BC Government, the BC Government will automatically forward your information to the Federal government that will create and forward to you by mail a business number for your corporation. Once you have received that business number, you can open the following accounts with Revenue Canada:

Open a GST account

Open a Payroll Deductions account

Open a Corporate Income Tax account

Open an Import/Export account

Harmonized Sales Tax

The harmonized sales tax (HST) is applied on most purchases of taxable supplies of goods and services in Canada. Businesses in Canada that were registered for the GST are required to collect and report the HST according to their established GST filing frequency.

If you operate in an HST -participating province, you will collect sales tax at the following rates:

  • NB: 15%
  • NL: 15%
  • NS: 15%
  • ON: 13%
  • PEI

Register with the WCB

If you have already hired or plan to hire employees, you should register with the Workers’ Compensation Board.

Prepare a Shareholders’ Agreement (Optional)

A Shareholder Agreement can be used to say how a corporation will be managed, how disputes will be resolved, what will happen on the death of a shareholder and to prevent shareholders from competing with the corporation.

Hold Directors’ Organizational Meeting

A Directors’ Organizational Meeting or Minutes is required to:

Approve the corporate bylaws

Approving a new registered office location

Approve the corporate seal

Approving the share certificate form

Issue shares of stock

Appointing or Waiving the Appointment of Accounting Consultants (optional)

Appoint the corporate officers

Open a corporate bank account

Hold Shareholders’ Organizational Meeting

A Shareholders’ Organizational Meeting or Minutes is required to:

Approve the corporate bylaws

Appointing or Waiving the Appointment of Auditors

Appoint or confirm directors

Approving the acts of the incorporators or directors

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