How to Register a Business in New Brunswick: Step-by-Step Guide for New Entrepreneurs
When preparing to start a new business in New Brunswick, you may have multiple regulations to follow. One of the first things you potentially need to do is register your New Brunswick business.
The registration process tells the provincial government about the operational structure for your business, as well as determining what kinds of taxes you may owe.
Continue reading to learn how to register your business in New Brunswick.
Will New Brunswick Force Me to Register My Business?
Many businesses need to register with the provincial New Brunswick government. However, there is one primary exception.
If you are operating a sole proprietorship, where you are the only business owner, you may not need to register. Many people running a sole proprietorship simply choose to operate their business under their own name, meaning there’s no need for registration with New Brunswick.
However, if you want to operate the sole proprietorship under a different name for business purposes, you must register it using the Declaration of Trade Name form. This protects your business from anyone else taking your business name and using it and ensures customers know who they are dealing with.
Other types of New Brunswick business operations, including corporations and partnerships, must register with the province.
Benefits of Registering a Business in New Brunswick
When you register your business in New Brunswick, you receive a few significant benefits, including:
The biggest advantage of registering is that it officially gives you a legal business structure under which to operate. Your legal structure may protect your personal finances and assets from the business’ finances and assets. If someone sues your business, your personal assets remain off limits to the lawsuit under the right structure.
How Soon Do You Have to Register Your New Brunswick Business?
You don’t have a specific deadline for registering your business. However, you do not receive the benefits of registering your business in New Brunswick until you complete the registration process.
So if you need a licence to operate your business legally, you need to register your business first, so you can obtain your licence.
The New Brunswick provincial government does not specify an amount of time for registration to take. Third-party registration services claim to require one to five days to complete the process online with them.
We would plan for the registration process to take up to a couple of weeks if filing by mail. Regardless of how you file, plan ahead if you know you need a licence by a certain date.
What is the Cost for Registering My Business in New Brunswick?
Business registration costs in New Brunswick depend on the type of business.
When you register your corporation in another Canadian province first and later want to begin operating in New Brunswick, you will need to register as a corporation here, too.
New Brunswick’s business registration fees are subject to change at any time. Depending on your particular business, you could be subject to extra fees. Some businesses do not have to pay any of these fees, though.
What Information Do I Need for Registering My New Brunswick Business?
You need a few items to be able to register your business properly, including:
Options for Registering My New Brunswick Business
You’ll use SNB Online to register your New Brunswick business online. Just click the link to either incorporate your business or to register your business name to start the process. Then follow the steps on the screen.
Another option for registering your New Brunswick business online is using a paid registration service. This type of service walks you through the process, which can be helpful when you are unsure of exactly what you should do.
These services will charge you a fee for handling the registration for you. This fee is on top of the fees you must pay to the New Brunswick provincial government. Typically, hiring a registration service will cost anywhere from around $40 to a few hundred dollars, depending on the registration service you need to use.
Some of the top paid business registration services in New Brunswick include:
You can access all New Brunswick business registration forms online in a PDF format, where you can print them. You have the option of completing the PDF forms digitally and emailing them to the provincial government.
If you prefer to fill out paper forms and carry them to the provincial government offices on your own, you may have this option. The New Brunswick Corporate Registry Operations Service Centre is the operations center for business registration services. However, you should reach out by phone or email to see whether you need an appointment.
New Brunswick Business Name Registration Lookup - How to Choose a Name for Your Business in New Brunswick
When selecting a name to use with your New Brunswick business registration, it needs to follow a few rules. Service New Brunswick has a document that provides advice for selecting a name.
Start by making sure the name you want to use is available in the province. It cannot be similar to other names. It cannot contain profane words, and it should have words that properly describe what your business does.
If the business will be a corporation, it must have a word like Limited, Corporation, or Incorporated – or abbreviations of these words – as part of the business name.
When registering your business name in New Brunswick, you have the option of registering both a French and English name at the same time. The business can use either or both names while it is operating. The French and English versions of the business name do not have to be exact translations of each other, but they should have a similar meaning. (Both names must not have similarities to other registered business names that already exist.)
You can register to receive your preferred business name online through the Service New Brunswick webpage. Just click on the Begin a New Application button to start the process. You may have to pay some fees to register your name.
New Brunswick Business Registration Process
It may take a week or two to receive approval of your business registration process when performed online. If you are emailing the forms or submitting printed forms, it may take a little longer. Plan ahead by ensuring that you start the registration process early enough to accommodate the planned opening for your business.
Here are some of the steps you should follow when registering different types of businesses in New Brunswick. Should you be unsure about the steps you need to take for registration of your business, consult an attorney or seek help from a fee-based business registration service that serves New Brunswick.
When operating a sole proprietorship in New Brunswick under your name, you do not have to register your business (although you can). The only time a sole proprietorship must undergo the registration process is when you want to operate it under a business name that differs from your name.
In New Brunswick, the registration process for a sole proprietorship involves completing a Declaration of Trade Name form. You can find information about how to register a sole proprietorship business name on the New Brunswick provincial government website.
To register a business partnership in New Brunswick, the provincial government website has instructions available. You need to pick a name for the partnership, and you must file a Certificate of Partnership based on the Partnerships and Business Names Registration Act.
The New Brunswick provincial government website has information about completing the registration of a corporation through the Business Corporations Act.
As part of registering your business as a corporation, you must agree to follow the rules for annual documents you must submit.
If you plan to operate your corporation in provinces other than in New Brunswick, you may want to register your corporation federally. This protects your business name throughout Canada. You then also must register the corporation in New Brunswick
Businesses in New Brunswick do not need to submit a request for a Master Business Licence. That licence is a separate part of the registration in Ontario only.
5 Steps to Register a Business in New Brunswick
New Brunswick offers a Search Corporate Registry service that you can use (for a fee) to determine if any business names already exist that are similar to the name you want to use. Another option is to perform a NUANS name search (again for a fee). Your name must be different from any existing registered business names in the province.
New Brunswick offers three primary legal structures under which your business can operate – sole proprietorship, partnership, and corporation.
For help in selecting the best one for your situation, consider hiring an attorney or using the Business Structures Wizard. The Canadian federal government has additional information on selecting a business structure as well.
You can register your business and business name online through the New Brunswick provincial government website. You also can access PDF copies of forms that you can print, if desired. Service New Brunswick has additional information you can use when registering your business and when selecting a name.
Depending on the type of business you’re going to operate in New Brunswick, you may need to follow steps beyond the general registration process.
You must renew your business name every five years in New Brunswick. You can perform the entire renewal process online, if desired. Additionally, corporations in New Brunswick need to file an annual report about business performance.
