Ontario Incorporation Cost: Portal, Lawyer or CPA
The headline price of incorporating tells you almost nothing, because the routes include different things. Work out what each actually costs once the gaps are filled, what you are left to do yourself, and which route genuinely suits what you need.
all in, year one
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All In, Year One
| Route | Headline Price | Gaps You Fill | Year One Total |
|---|
What Each Route Leaves You To Do
| Item | Self-File | Portal | Lawyer | CPA Firm |
|---|
Where Each Route Fits
| Situation | Sensible Route |
|---|
Points That Decide This
What to Do Next
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Disclaimer: The figures on this page are illustrative and are generated from the editable price assumptions you enter. They are not a quotation, not our fee, and not representative of what any particular provider, portal or law firm charges; please replace them with figures from actual quotes. Government filing fees, name search requirements and the available methods of incorporating are set by the relevant registry, change from time to time, and must be confirmed directly. Incorporating a corporation involves legal questions, including the classes and attributes of shares, the rights attaching to them, the terms of any shareholders’ agreement, director residency requirements, and the consequences of the structure chosen; advice on those matters is legal advice, which chartered professional accountants do not provide. Where more than one person will own shares, or where shares are to be held by family members, a trust or another corporation, independent legal advice is generally appropriate, and a share structure that is wrong at the outset is considerably more expensive to correct than to establish correctly. Nothing on this page is a recommendation to use or not use any particular provider or route, nor a statement that any route is adequate for a particular person’s circumstances. A corporation has ongoing obligations after incorporation, including corporate filings, tax returns and record keeping, which continue regardless of how it was formed. Any comparison between routes describes the service commonly provided by each and not the service of any individual firm. This page is general information, not legal, tax or accounting advice.
The Advertised Price Is Not the Comparison
Every route quotes a different scope, which makes the headline numbers almost meaningless next to each other. A portal advertising a low fee is quoting the filing. A lawyer quoting several times that is quoting the filing plus a minute book plus the share structure plus advice about it.
The comparison that means anything is what each route costs once the things it excludes have been bought elsewhere, and what you are left doing yourself.
Government fees are the same on every route. They are payable whoever files, so the difference between routes is entirely service, not registry cost. Any quote that does not separate the two is worth questioning.
A Single-Shareholder Numbered Company Does Not Need a Lawyer
Worth saying plainly. One person, one class of shares, a numbered company, no outside investors and no family holding shares: that is a straightforward filing, and self-filing or using a portal is a reasonable decision.
The cost of advice is justified by the complexity of what is being advised on, and in that case there is very little. Paying professional fees for it buys convenience rather than protection.
The Moment More Than One Person Owns Shares, It Changes
Two founders splitting equally with no agreement is the most common expensive mistake in small business. What happens if one leaves, how shares are valued, who can block what, and what occurs on death or divorce are all questions that cost very little to answer at the start and a great deal to resolve later.
Those are legal questions. Accountants do not answer them, and a portal does not ask them. This is the situation where the lawyer’s fee is the cheapest part of the transaction.
| Situation | Where it points |
|---|---|
| One shareholder, numbered, one share class | Self-file or a portal |
| One shareholder, wants accounts and first return handled | A CPA firm, for the bundle |
| Two or more shareholders | A lawyer, before anything is filed |
| Family members or a trust holding shares | A lawyer, with tax input |
| Outside investment expected | A lawyer, structure matters early |
Where the Hidden Costs Actually Are
Not in the incorporation itself. They sit in the things that follow it and that a cheap filing leaves untouched: the minute book, the CRA accounts, the choice of year end, the first return.
A corporation incorporated through a portal with no minute book, no accounts opened and no year end considered is a company that exists and is not yet usable. Everything on that list has to be done by someone, and doing it piecemeal afterwards usually costs more than having it included.
The minute book is the one people skip. It is unnecessary right up until a bank, a buyer, an auditor or a lawyer asks for it, at which point reconstructing years of resolutions is considerably more expensive than keeping it from the start.
The Year End Decision Gets Made by Default
Nobody filing through a portal is asked what fiscal year end suits the business, so it gets set by default or by whoever files the first return. It is effectively a one-time choice, since changing it later requires approval.
That is a genuine argument for involving someone who will ask the question. It is not an argument for the most expensive route; it is an argument for the question being asked at all.
What This Comparison Does Not Cover
- Legal advice on share structure, which only a lawyer provides
- Shareholders’ agreements, which are separate and usually worth it
- Current government fees, which change and must be confirmed
- Director residency requirements and how they apply to you
- Whether to incorporate at all, which is a different question
- Ongoing annual costs beyond the first year
Whether to incorporate comes before how. If that is still open, the Ontario against federal calculator covers jurisdiction and the fiscal year end calculator covers the decision nobody asks about.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions on incorporation cost.
Related Calculators and Guides
More on setting up a corporation.
Tell Us What You Are Setting Up
If it is one shareholder and a simple structure, we will tell you to file it yourself or use a portal and save the fee. If there are two of you, or family shares, or investors coming, we will tell you to see a lawyer first. Where the accounts and the first year matter, that is where we are useful.