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Lawdepot Corporate Services FAQ
LawDepot Corporate Services allow you to complete ordinary corporate maintenance tasks. Select the service or product you need, fill out the short online form, and LawDepot will take care of the rest. Our agents will enter and provide the necessary information to the relevant government body within 1-4 business days. We will provide proof that the relevant registries have been updated.
After our agents have entered and updated your corporation's information (as provided by you in your answers) at the relevant registries, LawDepot.com will provide evidence of the registration and updating of that information.
Anyone can take advantage of LawDepot Corporate Services, regardless of whether they incorporated through LawDepot or not.
Currently, LawDepot offers the following Corporate Services.
LawDepot can also help companies incorporate in Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, Saskatchewan and Canada (Federal Incorporation).
Your corporate number is the number that identifies your corporation as unique from all other corporations. It was issued to your corporation upon incorporation. It is referred to by various names, including “corporate number”, “corporation number” and “corporate access number”. You can find your corporate number on your Certificate of Incorporation.
In British Columbia, you must provide an access code. Your access code can be found in Box C of the mailed annual report reminder or as provided in the emailed annual report reminder.
Any corporation that incorporated in Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, Saskatchewan or federally in Canada can take advantage of LawDepot Corporate Services. To order a Corporate Service for a corporation, you must have the power to act on behalf of the corporation.
If you incorporated provincially and are changing the Registered Office Address of your corporation, the new address must be in the same province. For example, if you incorporated in Alberta, your new Registered Office Address must be in Alberta.
In most jurisdictions, you must notify the government within 15 days of the change.
When changing the directors of the corporation, you can add, remove, and replace directors, but your total number of directors must fall within the limits stated in your Articles of Incorporation. For example, if your Articles of Incorporation state that the corporation will have between 3 and 5 directors, and you make changes that result in fewer than 3 or greater than 5 directors, additional forms will need to be filed. In some jurisdictions, LawDepot offers a service that allows you to change the minimum and maximum or total number of directors allowed.
An annual return (sometimes called an annual report) is an update on the status of a corporation that must be filed yearly in the jurisdiction of incorporation.
The annual return should be filed within 60 days of the anniversary date of the corporation. This is required in Ontario and federally, and is good practice in Alberta and British Columbia as well.
You do not have to provide us with any paperwork or documents to "file" your annual return. Just complete the answers on our questions page and we update the information electronically.
An initial return is a report on the status of a corporation that is filed shortly after incorporation. It is mandatory in Ontario.
An initial return must be filed within 60 days of incorporation.
A director is a person who is elected by either the incorporators or the shareholders of a corporation to conduct the affairs of the company.
An Officer is someone who ordinarily performs some of the management functions of the corporation. An Officer does not need to be a Shareholder or Director, and is appointed and reports to the Directors of a corporation.
A shareholder is a person, business entity or institution that owns at least one share in a corporation. Shareholders are the actual owners of the corporation. As owners, the shareholders have the potential to profit if the corporation is doing well but also the potential to lose their investments if the corporation’s fortunes decline. A shareholder is not personally liable for the debts and obligations of the corporation.
A corporation’s registered office address is the place of business where the corporation is located and which is ordinarily available to the public. This address cannot be a P.O. Box.
A Mailing Address is the address where mail is sent to. Unlike the Registered Office Address and Records Address, the Mailing Address can be a P.O. Box.
A corporation’s records office, if separate from the registered office, is where the corporation’s necessary documents (articles of incorporation and bylaws, with amendments, unanimous shareholder agreement, minutes, copies of financial statements, etc.) are kept. This address cannot be a P.O. Box.
The following are just some of the titles that are often assigned to Officers in a corporation: President, Vice-President, Treasurer, and Secretary.