Service / 04
A BCBCA company with no director residency requirement, so your directors can live anywhere. We request your name approval and file the Incorporation Application with BC Registries.
Flat service fee
$279
+ $350 BC gov fee
$629 total, numbered
Named companies are $659: the extra $30is BC’s Name Approval Request fee, passed through at cost.
One rule decides this for most people: who is allowed to be a director.
British Columbia
No residency rule
BC companies require at least one director. There is no Canadian residency requirement, and directors may live anywhere.
Business Corporations Act (BC) s.120 sets out director qualifications and imposes no residency requirement.
Federal (CBCA)
25% must be resident
Federal corporations require at least one director, and at least 25% of directors must be resident Canadians.
CBCA s.105(3). At least 25 per cent of the directors of a corporation must be resident Canadians.
Everything below is in the price, with the government fee shown separately.
Choose your company name
A numbered company (for example 1234567 B.C. Ltd.) needs no approval and is the fastest route. For a named company, BC accepts up to three names in order of preference and the registrar may approve any one of them. We submit the Name Approval Request for you; the $30 government fee is in the price.
Set up your share structure
Simple (one class of unlimited common shares), standard (voting and non-voting), or custom classes with voting, dividend and liquidation rights.
Add your directors
At least one director is required. BC has no Canadian residency requirement at all, so your directors can live anywhere in the world. This is the main reason founders outside Canada choose BC.
Give your registered and records offices
BC requires both, and both must be physical addresses in British Columbia. They are usually the same address. PO boxes are not accepted, and the address appears on the public registry.
Review and pay
For a numbered company we file straight away. For a named company we request the name approval first, then file the Incorporation Application as soon as it is granted.
No. The Business Corporations Act (BC) imposes no residency requirement on directors, so they can live anywhere. What you do need is a registered office and a records office, both at physical addresses in British Columbia.
The biggest practical difference is directors. A federal CBCA corporation requires at least 25% of its directors to be resident Canadians. BC requires none. If some or all of your directors are outside Canada, a BC company is usually the simpler route.
It is not a NUANS report. BC runs its own name approval through BC Registries, searching the BC corporate registry, and the decision is at the registrar's discretion. It does not search federal corporations, trademarks, or other provinces. An approval is valid for 56 days, so we file promptly once it is granted.
The Name Approval Request carries a $30 government fee. Government fees are passed through at cost and shown separately rather than absorbed into our service fee, so a named company costs exactly that much more. Our service fee is the same $279 either way.
Business Corporations Act (BC) s.51. Filed within 2 months after each anniversary of the date on which the company was recognized, which means incorporation, amalgamation, extraprovincial registration or continuation into B.C. Missing it can lead to your company being struck from the register.
Not without registering there. A BC company can operate in British Columbia; to carry on business in Ontario, Alberta or elsewhere you must register extra-provincially in each of those jurisdictions.
$629 all in for a numbered company, $659 named. One price, no additions at checkout.
Start BC Incorporation