How Much Does It Cost to Incorporate in Alberta? Every Fee, Explained (2026)

Alberta Corporate Registry charges $275 to incorporate a corporation under the Business Corporations Act. The fee is identical for a named and a numbered corporation, and identical whether a lawyer, a registry counter or an online service files for you. Everyone who files pays it; nobody who files legitimately can discount it.

Our prices are total fees before GST (5%), government fee included. Government fees mentioned in this guide are current as of September 2026; confirm against the Alberta Registry agent product catalogue.

An Alberta NUANS report is a name search that lists existing corporate names, trade names and trademarks similar to the one you want. It reserves your name for 90 days and must be less than 91 days old on the day your articles are filed. It is a search product, not a government fee, and it costs $68 + GST through us, including a trained agent's reading of the conflicts it lists.

A numbered corporation, such as "1234567 Alberta Ltd.", skips this cost entirely. It can still trade under a brand by registering a trade name later.

This is where Alberta incorporation fees differ from one route to another. Business owners cannot file in CORES themselves, so every route includes someone preparing the Articles of Incorporation, the Notice of Address, the Notice of Directors and the Notice of Agent for Service, and submitting them through a licensed registry agent.

With us it is all one price: $498 + GST in total fees, including the government fee, consultation, preparation and filing. It covers drafting the articles and notices from your answers, a CORES-trained agent's review of every field before filing, submission through [Partner registry agent name], and your Certificate of Incorporation and filed documents by email. ACS is a private company, not a government office or a registry agent.

Two items are often quoted as part of the price of incorporating, but you only pay them if you need them.

• Minute book. The corporation's record book: articles, bylaws, registers of directors, shareholders and officers, share certificates and the organizational resolutions that issue the first shares. Alberta corporations must keep these records, and a bank or lender will ask for them. A digital minute book is $389 + GST when you add it to your incorporation with us, or $484 + GST on its own.
• Agent for service. Every Alberta corporation must appoint an individual located in Alberta, with an Alberta address, to accept legal documents. If you live in Alberta you can be your own agent at no cost. If you do not, a provider acts for you; ours is $566 + GST per year.

Our prices are total fees before GST (5%), government fee included. Government fees mentioned in this guide are current as of September 2026; confirm against the Alberta Registry agent product catalogue.

The $275 government fee never changes. What changes is who does the drafting, who checks it, and what you pay them.

Option 1: Do it yourself at a registry agent's counter

You draft the articles and notices, order your own NUANS report, and bring the package and your ID to a registry agent. The agent submits it in CORES and charges its own service fee on top of the government fee; the amount varies by agent. The drafting, including the share structure, is your responsibility, and a rejected package means a second trip.

Option 2: An online filing service

You answer a questionnaire, a trained person drafts and reviews the documents, and the package is filed through a registry agent the same business day. With us that is $498 + GST, government fee included, with the NUANS report as a separate line only if you choose a name. This route suits the large majority of owner-managed corporations with a straightforward share structure.

Option 3: A lawyer

A lawyer's fee for the same filing is typically higher; ask for a quote. A lawyer is worth it when the structure is not straightforward: several shareholders with different rights, a shareholders' agreement to draft, a dispute or a buy-out already in view, or a professional corporation with an unusual structure. The lawyer's package still goes through CORES via an accredited law firm or a registry agent, and the $275 government fee is the same.

What about federal incorporation?

A federal corporation is formed under the Canada Business Corporations Act (CBCA) and pays Corporations Canada's own fee. If it operates in Alberta, it must also register extra-provincially here, with an Alberta NUANS report, an Alberta agent for service and the Alberta registration fee, and it files annual returns in Alberta as well. For an Alberta-only business, that is two filings instead of one. Our guide on how to incorporate a business in Alberta walks through the choice.

Incorporating is a one-time cost. Running a corporation has yearly costs, and it is worth knowing them before you decide between a corporation and a sole proprietorship; our comparison of sole proprietorship vs corporation in Alberta covers that decision.

The annual return is the one that catches people. Miss it and Corporate Registry sends notices; keep missing it and the corporation is struck (dissolved). Reviving a dissolved corporation means Articles of Revival, the government revival fee and every outstanding annual return, which costs far more than filing on time.

• Comparing service fees and forgetting the government fee. Any price that looks lower than $275 cannot include it. Ask for the total, and whether GST is on top.
• Paying for a NUANS report you do not need. A numbered corporation needs no NUANS report. Order one only if you want a name.
• Letting the NUANS report expire. It must be less than 91 days old at filing. Wait too long and you buy it twice.
• Choosing the simplest share structure instead of the right one. Changing share classes later means Articles of Amendment and a second government fee. Ask your CPA before you file, not after.
• Paying a provider to be agent for service when you can be your own. Any individual located in Alberta with an Alberta address can act.
• Forgetting the annual return. Revival costs more than every annual return you skipped, plus a NUANS report if the corporation was dissolved three or more years ago.