How do you incorporate a holding company or a finance and insurance business in Quebec?
You form a business corporation and declare one of the sector’s 37 CAE codes; for a holding company, it is 7215 — Sociétés de portefeuille (holdings), explained in its own guide.
Starting a holding company? The CAE code, how it works, the steps and the cost are in our holding company guide. This page covers the rest of the sector: investment and financing companies, brokerage, insurance.
Incorporation follows the same steps as for any other business; see also the cost of incorporating and the right time to incorporate. What is specific to your sector is the economic activity code (CAE) entered in the corporation’s initial declaration.
s. 33LPLE, s. 33The registration declaration must state ( 1 ) the registrant’s name, domicile and, in the case of a natural person, date of birth as well as, if the registrant was previously registered, the registrant’s Québec business number; ( 2 ) any other name used by the registrant in Québec and by which the registrant is identified, either in carrying on an activity, which includes the operation of an enterprise, or for the purpose of the possession of an immovable real right, other than a prior claim or hypothec, if applicable; and ( 3 ) the registrant’s juridical form; ( 4 ) (subparagraph repealed). (…)
Which CAE code fits a finance or insurance business?
The “Finance and insurance” sector has 37 CAE codes, from 7011 to 7499: deposit-taking intermediaries, financing companies, investment intermediaries, insurance companies, brokers and exchanges.
The codes fall into these groups:
- 7011 to 7052: banks, trust companies, deposit-taking mortgage loan companies, savings and credit unions;
- 7111 to 7129: financing companies (consumer loans, sales financing, credit cards, factoring, leasing, venture capital);
- 7211 to 7299: investment (mutual funds, retirement savings funds, investment companies, holding companies, mortgage investment, real estate investment trusts);
- 7311 to 7339: insurance companies;
- 7411 to 7499: dealers, brokers, exchanges and other financial intermediaries.
Here are the most common codes, with the exact labels of the Registraire des entreprises:
All 37 codes are in our CAE search tool, filtered on finance and insurance.
If nothing matches exactly, take the “Other…” code of the right group: 7029, 7129, 7229, 7299, 7339 or 7499. Has your activity changed? The code is corrected with an updating declaration.
s. 33Act respecting the legal publicity of enterprises, s. 33The registration declaration must state ( 1 ) the registrant’s name, domicile and, in the case of a natural person, date of birth as well as, if the registrant was previously registered, the registrant’s Québec business number; ( 2 ) any other name used by the registrant in Québec and by which the registrant is identified, either in carrying on an activity, which includes the operation of an enterprise, or for the purpose of the possession of an immovable real right, other than a prior claim or hypothec, if applicable; and ( 3 ) the registrant’s juridical form; ( 4 ) (subparagraph repealed). (…)s. 41Act respecting the legal publicity of enterprises, s. 41The registrant must update the information required by sections 33 to 35.2 to be contained in the register concerning the registrant by filing an updating declaration within 30 days after the date on which any change occurs, unless a shorter period is prescribed by law. (…)
Holding company, investment company or real estate investment trust: which CAE code?
Three sector labels look alike: 7215 — Sociétés de portefeuille (holdings), 7214 — Sociétés d'investissement (investment companies) and 7222 — Fiducies de placement immobilier (real estate investment trusts); take the one naming your actual activity.
For a holding company, everything is in the What CAE code for a holding company? section of our holding company guide.
A corporation that buys and rents out a building itself is not a real estate investment trust: it belongs to the Real estate sector; see our real estate business guide.
Which finance CAE codes are reserved?
Only one code in the sector carries a mark: 7421 — Agences ou courtiers en prêts hypothécaires, with three asterisks, “Mortgage broker licence (AMF) required”.
No code in the sector carries the single asterisk (*, restricted to members of the relevant professional order). The CAE code describes what your business does: it is neither a permit nor an authorization, and the absence of a mark says nothing about the permits specific to your activity. Check them with the relevant body before you start.
Which CAE code fits an insurance agency or a credit bureau?
Insurance agencies and claims adjusters are classified under “Real estate”, credit bureaus and accounting offices under “Business and professional services”, not under finance.
Why is insurance under “Real estate”? In the CAE list, 7611 and 7613 belong to the “Immobilier et assurances (75xx-76xx)” (real estate and insurance) group, not to the “Finance, assurance (70xx-74xx)” group; our tool follows that split. If one of these activities brings in most of your revenue, your first code is in one of these sectors:
- Real estate: 7611 — Agences d'assurances (insurance agencies), 7613 — Experts en sinistres (claims adjusters), and 7612 — Agences ou courtiers immobiliers (real estate agencies or brokers), marked
**(Real estate brokerage licence (OACIQ) required). See our real estate business guide; - Business and professional services: 7731 — Bureaux de comptables (accounting offices), 7732 — Bureaux de comptables professionnels agréés (CPA offices), marked
*(Restricted to members of the relevant professional order), 7739 — Autres services de comptabilité et de tenue de livres (other accounting and bookkeeping services), 7771 — Bureaux de conseillers en gestion (management consulting offices), 7792 — Bureaux de crédit (credit bureaus) and 7793 — Agences de recouvrement (collection agencies). See our consulting services guide.
s. 33Act respecting the legal publicity of enterprises, s. 33The registration declaration must state ( 1 ) the registrant’s name, domicile and, in the case of a natural person, date of birth as well as, if the registrant was previously registered, the registrant’s Québec business number; ( 2 ) any other name used by the registrant in Québec and by which the registrant is identified, either in carrying on an activity, which includes the operation of an enterprise, or for the purpose of the possession of an immovable real right, other than a prior claim or hypothec, if applicable; and ( 3 ) the registrant’s juridical form; ( 4 ) (subparagraph repealed). (…)
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Frequently asked questions about finance and insurance businesses
Does a financial technology (fintech) business take a finance code?
Only if finance is the activity that brings in most of its revenue. A corporation that mainly sells software or IT services to financial institutions describes its activity with 7721 — Services d'informatique (computer services) instead; a corporation that lends or finances itself chooses the matching financing code.
Which CAE code fits equipment lease financing?
The label that describes this activity is 7124 — Sociétés de crédit-bail (leasing companies). If you finance a merchant’s sales instead, the neighbouring label is 7121 — Sociétés de financement des ventes (sales financing companies).
Does a corporation that lends money to individuals and to businesses take a single code?
It declares first the code of its most important activity, then the code of the second: 7111 — Sociétés de prêts à la consommation (consumer loan companies) for loans to individuals, 7129 — Autres sociétés de financement des entreprises (other business financing companies) for loans to businesses.
Does a private mortgage lender take code 7421?
The label of 7421 covers “Agences ou courtiers en prêts hypothécaires” (mortgage agencies or brokers). A corporation that lends its own funds on mortgage finds labels closer to its activity in 7221 — Sociétés de placement hypothécaire (mortgage investment companies) and 7229 — Autres sociétés de prêts hypothécaires (other mortgage loan companies).