How to start a business or a corporation in Quebec
To start a business in Quebec, first choose its legal form, register it with the Quebec enterprise register, then register it for the Revenu Québec files it needs.
This guide follows that order and covers every form: sole proprietorship, partnership, business corporation (the “company”) and cooperative. Each rule points to the statute that sets it, to a Revenu Québec publication or to Paul Martel’s reference work. If you have already chosen the corporation, the details of incorporating it are in our guide to the incorporation steps.
How to start a business in Quebec: the steps in order
Three steps, in this order: choose the legal form, register the business with the enterprise register, then register it with Revenu Québec.
- Choose the form. Operate alone, in your own name; join others in a general or limited partnership; or create a legal person separate from you, the business corporation, or “company” (Civil Code of Québec, art. 2188). The criteria are in the section where to start.
- Register the business. The enterprise registrar registers a business on the filing of its registration declaration or, for a legal person constituted in Quebec, on the deposit of its constituting instrument (Act respecting the legal publicity of enterprises, s. 30). A Quebec business corporation is constituted by the issue of a certificate of incorporation, after its articles are filed (Martel, para. 5-4); the registrar registers it at the same time, itself (para. 10-6). It then files an initial declaration within 60 days after registration (s. 38).
- Register with the tax authorities. According to Revenu Québec, businesses operating in Quebec must generally register for one or more of its files, file the required returns, remit the amounts owed and follow the filing and remittance frequency set by law (IN-315, 2026-04 version, in French). For GST and QST, see our page on tax numbers.
“The registrar registers a registrant on the filing of a registration declaration or, in the case of a legal person constituted in Québec, on the deposit in the register of its constituting instrument in accordance with the law applicable to legal persons of its kind.”
“If a legal person is registered on the deposit of its constituting instrument in the register, the legal person must file with the registrar, within 60 days after the date of registration, an initial declaration (…)”
Starting a business in Quebec: where to start?
With the choice of legal form: alone or with others, with or without a legal person separate from you. That choice decides how you register and who answers for the debts.
Under the Civil Code, operating an enterprise means carrying on an organized economic activity, commercial or not: producing, administering or alienating property, or providing a service (art. 1525; Martel, para. 1-54). You can do it alone or with others: a partnership arises from an agreement between at least two partners who operate a business to make a profit, each contributing money, property, work or skills (Revenu Québec, IN-119, in French).
“Partnerships are either general partnerships, limited partnerships or undeclared partnerships. They may also be in joint-stock form, in which case they are legal persons.”
| Form | Who creates it | A person separate from you? | Registration with the register |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sole proprietorship | One person alone | No | Required under a name that does not include your surname and given name (s. 21 of the legal publicity Act) |
| General or limited partnership | At least two partners (IN-119) | No (C.C.Q., art. 2188) | Required (s. 21 of the legal publicity Act; C.C.Q., art. 2189) |
| Undeclared partnership | At least two partners | No (C.C.Q., art. 2188) | Contract written, verbal or arising from facts clearly showing the intention (C.C.Q., art. 2250) |
| Business corporation (company) | One or more founders (Business Corporations Act, s. 3) | Yes, a legal person (C.C.Q., art. 2188) | Done by the registrar when the articles are filed (s. 30 of the legal publicity Act) |
| Cooperative | Persons or partnerships with common needs (Cooperatives Act, s. 3) | Yes, a legal person (same section) | Required for a legal person constituted in Quebec (s. 21 of the legal publicity Act) |
A business corporation can be incorporated under the Quebec statute or the federal statute (Martel, para. 3-1); our guide to the incorporation steps compares the two. To compare every form in detail, see the legal forms; to know when the corporation pays off, see when to incorporate.
Sole proprietorship in Quebec: how do you register it with the REQ?
With a registration declaration filed with the enterprise registrar: it is mandatory if you operate under a name that does not include your surname and given name, and optional otherwise.
“The following are required to be registered (…) natural persons who operate a sole proprietorship, whether or not a commercial enterprise, in Québec under a name that does not include their surname and given name”
- Example. “Coiffure Éclat” must be registered; “Julie Tremblay”, operated under its owner’s name, does not have to be.
- Two exceptions. A tobacco retail outlet and a tanning salon must be registered even under the operator’s surname and given name (s. 21).
- Voluntary registration. A person who is not required to register may request registration (s. 22).
- What the declaration contains. Your name, domicile and date of birth, any other name you use in Quebec in your activity, the legal form and, where applicable, your two main activities with their activity code and the address of your establishments (s. 33).
“A person or a group of persons not required to be registered may request registration.”
Once registered, the business receives its Quebec enterprise number (NEQ), which the registrar assigns to businesses that carry on or wish to carry on activities in Quebec; it is used in their dealings with Quebec ministries and bodies (Revenu Québec, CO-17.SP.G, in French, line 01a). The other formalities with the register are in our guide to the Quebec enterprise register.
For tax purposes, a sole proprietorship is not a separate taxpayer: the self-employed person or sole owner reports business income on their own Quebec income tax return. For Revenu Québec, there is a business as soon as an activity aims at a profit: a store, a service or manufacturing business, an online shop, a trade or profession carried on for one’s own account (IN-155, 2025-12 version, in French).
Sole proprietorship: limited or unlimited liability?
Unlimited: in a sole proprietorship, you answer for the business’s debts with all your property, present and future, except property exempt from seizure.
A sole proprietorship is not a person separate from you: its debts are yours. The property of a debtor is the common pledge of their creditors (Civil Code of Québec, art. 2644), and anyone under a personal obligation answers for it with all their property.
“Any person under a personal obligation charges, for its performance, all his property, movable and immovable, present and future, except property which is exempt from seizure or property which is the subject of a division of patrimony permitted by law.”
One nuance, contract by contract: the same article lets the debtor agree with a creditor to be bound only from the property they designate. A business corporation, on the other hand, is a legal person (art. 2188), and its name says so: it includes “société par actions” or “compagnie”, or ends with “inc.”, “ltée” or “s.a.”, to indicate that it is a limited-liability corporation (Business Corporations Act, s. 20).
“If a corporation’s name does not include the term (…) it must comprise the abbreviation (…) at the end to indicate that the corporation is a limited-liability corporation.”
Business start-up file: which documents to prepare?
For a corporation: the articles, the list of directors, the notice of the head office address and a declaration on the chosen name; for a sole proprietorship or a partnership: the registration declaration.
The business corporation. The articles of incorporation set out, among other things, the corporation’s name, or a designating number in its place, the names and addresses of the founders, the rights and restrictions attached to each class of shares, any restrictions on share transfers, and the number of directors (Business Corporations Act, s. 5). Three documents are filed with them: the list of directors with their names and domiciles, the notice of the head office address and, if you choose a name rather than a number, a declaration that reasonable means were taken to ensure it complies with the law (s. 8; Martel, para. 5-19). Signed by the founders, the articles are sent to the registrar with those documents and the prescribed fee (s. 9).
“However, the list of directors and the notice of the address of the head office are not required to be filed if the initial declaration (…) is filed with the articles.”
The sole proprietorship and the partnership. No articles: a registration declaration (Act respecting the legal publicity of enterprises, ss. 21 and 33). A partnership’s declaration also gives the name, domicile and date of birth of each partner, and the partnership’s object (s. 34).
The content of the articles, item by item, is explained in our guide to the incorporation steps.
Create your Quebec inc. for $497, government fees included
You answer the form; we prepare the articles and the initial declaration, then file them with the enterprise registrar.
One-person company: can you incorporate alone?
Yes: a Quebec business corporation can be incorporated by a single founder, who is a natural person qualified to be a director, or a legal person.
“A corporation may be constituted by one or more founders. (…) Any natural person qualified to be a director of a corporation may be the founder of a corporation. A legal person may also be the founder of a corporation.”
The signatories of the articles are the founders. According to Martel, persons who are not qualified to be directors cannot be founders: minors, incapable persons, bankrupts and interdicted persons (para. 5-9). A company with a single shareholder remains a legal person separate from that shareholder (Civil Code of Québec, art. 2188); that is what sets it apart from a sole proprietorship.
Starting a business in Canada from abroad: what are the options?
Two routes: incorporate a company in Quebec or federally, or do business in Quebec through your foreign company, which must then register with the enterprise register, with no permit required.
- Incorporate a Canadian company. A business corporation is incorporated under the Quebec statute or the federal statute (Martel, para. 3-1). Incorporated in Quebec or in Ottawa, it is Canadian, whatever the nationality of its directors and shareholders (Martel, para. 1-35). A Quebec corporation’s head office is located in Quebec (Business Corporations Act, s. 29); a federal corporation’s, in Canada (Martel, para. 7-3).
- Do business through your foreign company. No permit is required of a corporation constituted outside Quebec; it registers with the enterprise register if it is domiciled in Quebec, carries on an activity there or holds an immovable real right there, other than a prior claim or hypothec (Martel, para. 3-58; Act respecting the legal publicity of enterprises, s. 21). It does so within 60 days after starting its activity in Quebec (Martel, para. 10-33).
- Several provinces. A Quebec corporation doing business in another province registers there with the competent authorities (Martel, para. 3-52). According to Martel, federal incorporation is preferable for those planning to operate in several provinces, to avoid those formalities (para. 3-77).
“For the purposes of section 21, a person, trust or partnership who has an address in Québec or, either directly or through a representative acting under a general mandate, has an establishment, a post office box or the use of a telephone line in Québec or performs any act for profit in Québec is presumed to be carrying on an activity or operating an enterprise in Québec.”
“The head office of a corporation must be permanently located in Québec.”
Cooperative: which legal form, and for what kind of project?
A cooperative is a legal person that brings together persons or partnerships with common economic, social or cultural needs, to operate a business together according to the rules of cooperative action.
“A cooperative is a legal person in which persons or partnerships having economic, social and cultural needs in common unite for the operation of an enterprise according to the rules of cooperative action to meet those needs.”
- For what kind of project. A project that meets its members’ common needs; it may also be operated in the interest of a community determined by its articles (Cooperatives Act, s. 3).
- Its rights. It has the full enjoyment of civil rights for the attainment of its objects, and can carry on its activities and exercise its powers outside Quebec (s. 26).
- An example. A housing cooperative, made up solely of individuals, makes home ownership or the use of a dwelling more accessible; it operates at cost, and each member has a single vote (Revenu Québec, IN-261, in French).
Incorp-Québec’s form incorporates a Quebec business corporation; it is not used to create a cooperative.
FAQ — Starting a business in Quebec: your questions
What rights does incorporation give a business?
Once incorporated, the business becomes a legal person: it has juridical personality and the full enjoyment of civil rights, and it is distinct from its members.
- A business corporation is a legal person (Civil Code of Québec, art. 2188), from the date shown on its certificate of incorporation (Business Corporations Act, s. 10).
- Legal persons have juridical personality and the full enjoyment of civil rights (C.C.Q., arts. 298 and 301); their only incapacities are those resulting from their nature or from an express provision of law (art. 303).
- Their acts bind only themselves, except as provided by law (C.C.Q., art. 309).
Sources: Civil Code of Québec, arts. 298, 301, 303, 309 and 2188; Business Corporations Act, s. 10
What is an undeclared partnership (société en participation)?
It is a partnership without legal personality, whose contract may be written, verbal or arise from facts clearly showing the intention to form a partnership.
- The Civil Code provides for general, limited and undeclared partnerships; only a partnership in joint-stock form, the business corporation, is a legal person (art. 2188).
- A general or limited partnership that does not file its registration declaration is deemed to be an undeclared partnership, subject to the rights of third persons in good faith (art. 2189).
- Mere indivision of property between several persons does not create a presumption of their intention to form a partnership (art. 2250).
What is a general partnership (SENC)?
It is a partnership formed under a name common to the partners, which must register with the enterprise register and show its legal form in its name.
- It files a registration declaration; otherwise, it is deemed to be an undeclared partnership (Civil Code of Québec, art. 2189).
- It must indicate its juridical form in its name or after it; otherwise, a court may treat the partnership and its partners as an undeclared partnership toward a third person in good faith (art. 2197).
- It is not a legal person: only the business corporation is (art. 2188).
What exactly is a sole proprietorship?
It is a business that one person operates alone, on their own account, without creating a legal person: a self-employed person or sole owner, commercial or not.
- Operating an enterprise means carrying on an organized economic activity, commercial or not, consisting of producing, administering or alienating property, or providing a service (Civil Code of Québec, art. 1525; Martel, para. 1-54).
- Revenu Québec addresses the individual who owns a business alone: business income is reported on their own Quebec income tax return (IN-155, in French).
- It must be registered with the enterprise register if operated under a name that does not include the owner’s surname and given name (Act respecting the legal publicity of enterprises, s. 21).
Sources: Civil Code of Québec, art. 1525; Act respecting the legal publicity of enterprises, s. 21; Revenu Québec, IN-155 (2025-12)
Can you start a business with very little money?
As far as capital goes, yes: the law no longer requires a minimum investment to incorporate a business corporation; the filing fees for the articles still apply.
- An old rule of the Companies Act required an investment of at least ten percent of the authorized share capital; it no longer exists (Martel, para. 32-1).
- At the start, the founders provide the funds by subscribing for shares (Martel, para. 32-1).
- The articles are sent to the registrar together with the required documents and the fee set out in the Act respecting the legal publicity of enterprises (Business Corporations Act, s. 9).
Sources: Paul Martel, La société par actions au Québec, para. 32-1; Business Corporations Act, s. 9
Company registration: how is it different from incorporation?
Incorporation creates the corporation; registration enters it in the enterprise register. For a Quebec corporation, the registrar does both at the same time.
- A Quebec business corporation is constituted by the issue of a certificate of incorporation, after its articles are filed (Martel, para. 5-4).
- The registrar registers it by depositing its articles in the register itself (Act respecting the legal publicity of enterprises, s. 30; Martel, para. 10-6).
- A sole proprietorship or a general partnership is not incorporated: it registers by filing a registration declaration (same Act, s. 30; Civil Code of Québec, art. 2189).
Sources: Act respecting the legal publicity of enterprises, s. 30; Civil Code of Québec, art. 2189; Paul Martel, La société par actions au Québec, paras. 5-4 and 10-6
Must the articles of incorporation be filed with the initial declaration?
It is not mandatory: the initial declaration may accompany the articles, or be filed within 60 days after the corporation is registered.
- Filed with the articles, it replaces the list of directors and the notice of the head office address (Business Corporations Act, s. 8; Martel, para. 10-24).
- Otherwise, the corporation files it within 60 days after registration; if filed later, a penalty must be paid (Act respecting the legal publicity of enterprises, s. 38).
Sources: Business Corporations Act, s. 8; Act respecting the legal publicity of enterprises, s. 38; Paul Martel, La société par actions au Québec, para. 10-24
Sources
- Civil Code of Québec (CQLR, c. CCQ-1991), arts. 298, 301, 303, 309, 1525, 2188, 2189, 2197, 2250, 2644 and 2645, official English version, updated to June 10, 2026.
- Act respecting the legal publicity of enterprises (CQLR, c. P-44.1), ss. 21, 22, 25, 30, 33, 34 and 38, official English version, updated to June 10, 2026.
- Business Corporations Act (CQLR, c. S-31.1), ss. 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 20 and 29, official English version, updated to June 10, 2026.
- Cooperatives Act (CQLR, c. C-67.2), ss. 3 and 26, official English version, updated to June 10, 2026.
- Revenu Québec, Déclaration de services à la clientèle (IN-315, 2026-04 version, in French), “Pour les entreprises”.
- Revenu Québec, Les revenus d’entreprise ou de profession (IN-155, 2025-12 version, in French).
- Revenu Québec, Les nouveaux arrivants et l’impôt (IN-119, 2024-01 version, in French), “Société de personnes”.
- Revenu Québec, La TVQ, la TPS/TVH et les immeubles d’habitation (IN-261, 2026-02 version, in French), “Coopérative d’habitation”.
- Revenu Québec, return guide for non-profit corporations (CO-17.SP.G, 2023-12 version, in French), line 01a.
- Paul Martel, La société par actions au Québec, vol. 1, Les aspects juridiques, Wilson & Lafleur, paras. 1-4, 1-35, 1-54, 3-1, 3-52, 3-58, 3-77, 5-4, 5-9, 5-19, 7-3, 8-26 to 8-27, 10-6, 10-9, 10-24, 10-33 and 32-1 (update 117, February 2026).
A corporation rather than a sole proprietorship?
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Articles of incorporation, initial declaration with the enterprise register and government fees included.