If you are changing the office address of your corporation and you have come to us for assistance, the first thing we would ask you would be, “Is the address that you’re moving to still within the governing jurisdiction of your corporation”? What we mean by this is, if you have an Ontario corporation and you are changing its address, is the new address still within Ontario? This is very important because if it is not, it will be a more complex situation, which this article will not cover (stay tuned for another one!). However, the process is typically straightforward and simple as long as it is within the same governing jurisdiction!
If you have a Federal corporation that is changing its address, the new address still needs to be within the province that the corporation is registered to carry on business in. For example, if you have a Federal corporation registered to conduct business in Alberta, the address you are moving to must remain within Alberta. If the address that the corporation is moving to is outside of Alberta, this is possible. However, it is a more complex situation requiring extra administrative work (and a separate article from us). This article is just regarding recording an address change that is still within the corporation’s governing jurisdiction.
Let’s walk through the steps you’ll need to take to change the address of your corporation:
1. Get approval from all of the directors of the corporation
The first step you will want to take is to hold a meeting with the board of directors, or alternatively, pass a written resolution in lieu of a meeting, approving of this address change. This may seem redundant if you are the sole director of your corporation; however, to everyone on the outside who may need to review your corporate records in the future, it is not. It is essential that you record these changes regardless of your corporate structure.
If you decide to pass a written resolution in lieu of a meeting, we can help you take care of it!
2. Update the corporate information
Once all have approved the address change of the directors of the corporation, you will then want to update the corporate information with the governing body under which the corporation is incorporated. Most jurisdictions require you to notify them of these changes within 15 days of them coming into effect (but this can vary), so this is an important next step.
If it is a federal corporation, at least two notices will need to be made; one with Corporations Canada and one with the governing body in which the head office is located. Multiple notices may be required, depending on your corporate situation and how many provinces the corporation is registered to conduct business in.
We can help with this step, as well!
3. Update your address
The next step you need to take is updating your address with all of the key people/businesses involved in your corporation. Some important notifications to consider (but are not limited to) are:
- The bank that your corporation uses (they may want to see the directors’ resolution approving of this address change.)
- Your accountant
- The CRA
- Key customers and/or suppliers
- Google and other online search engines
- And more…
We hope this article gave you more insight into what is involved in updating the address of your corporation! Follow the links on this page to get our help updating your corporation’s address.
We can help in other ways, too—with our platform; you will have a place to store your records and solutions to meet all your needs; it gives you one less thing to worry about.
