Corporation Name Change – Rename Your Alberta Corporation

How to change a corporation name in Alberta

A corporation's legal name sits in its articles, the founding document filed at incorporation. Changing the name means amending the articles, so the filing is Articles of Amendment rather than a simple notice. Alberta has no separate "notice of articles"; every change to the articles goes through an amendment.

Three things have to line up:

• A new name that follows the rules. A distinctive element, a descriptive element and a legal element (Ltd., Limited, Inc., Incorporated, Corp. or Corporation). "Bow Valley Plumbing Ltd." works; "Plumbing Ltd." does not.
• An Alberta NUANS report for the new name. A NUANS report is a name search that reserves the name for 90 days, and it must be less than 91 days old when the amendment is filed.
• A special resolution of the shareholders approving the change. We draft it, the shareholders sign it, and it goes in the minute book.

Once Corporate Registry accepts the amendment, it issues a certificate showing the new name and its effective date.

A name change does not create a new corporation. Contracts, bank accounts, property, CRA accounts and the original incorporation date all stay with the same legal entity. Only the name on the record changes.

Numbered to named company in Alberta

Many owners incorporate as a numbered company (for example "1234567 Alberta Ltd.") because a numbered name needs no NUANS report and can be filed the same day. When the business grows into a brand, the numbered company becomes a named one through exactly this filing: a NUANS report for the chosen name, a special resolution and Articles of Amendment. Nothing else about the corporation changes.

Who this is for

• The owner who is rebranding, whose name no longer describes the business, or who is combining two trading identities under one name.
• The owner of a numbered company that now needs a real name for the bank, customers or a storefront.
• The owner whose name is too close to another business and who wants that settled before it becomes a dispute.
• The CPA, lawyer or paralegal filing name changes for clients, who wants the resolution and the filed articles formatted for the minute book, same-day confirmation and partner pricing.

How it works

1. Tell us the current name and the new name. We confirm the corporation's status with our free corporate lookup and check the proposed name against the naming rules.
2. We order the Alberta NUANS report for the new name and read it for conflicts before anything is drafted. If the name is too close to an existing one, we tell you and help you adjust it instead of filing something that will be refused.
3. We draft the special resolution and the Articles of Amendment. You and the other voting shareholders sign the resolution electronically.
4. A CORES-trained agent reviews the package and submits it through a licensed Alberta registry agent into CORES, Alberta's Corporate Registry System. ACS is a private company; we are not a government office or a registry agent.
5. You receive the certificate, the filed articles and the signed resolution by email the same business day for complete orders received before 3:00 pm MT.

If an amendment cannot be filed, our refund policy explains what happens.

Common mistakes we catch before filing

• A NUANS report that is 91 days old or older. The report expires, and a stale one means a refused filing and a second search.
• A name with no descriptive element, or a legal element that differs between the resolution and the articles. The name on the resolution, the NUANS report and the articles must be identical, down to the period in "Ltd."
• A professional corporation filed in the wrong order. Physicians, dentists, lawyers and CPAs need their regulator's approval of the amended articles before the amendment is filed. We sequence it correctly.
• The old name still in use with no trade name registered. If you keep trading under the old name, it needs a trade name registration.
• A resolution signed by the directors only when the shareholders have to approve it.

What you need before you start

• The corporation's current legal name or its corporate access number. Both are on the Certificate of Incorporation.
• The proposed new name, with its legal element, and one or two alternatives in case the first is taken.
• The names and email addresses of the voting shareholders who will sign the special resolution.
• For a professional corporation: the regulator's approval of the new name.
• A credit card. No registry login is needed, because business owners cannot file in CORES themselves.

Requirements in Alberta

• The new name must have a distinctive element, a descriptive element and a legal element.
• An Alberta NUANS report less than 91 days old must accompany the Articles of Amendment.
• The change must be approved by special resolution of the shareholders.
• The corporation must be active on the register. A struck corporation is revived first, then renamed.
• Only professions whose governing Act allows it may use "Professional Corporation" in a name, and the regulator's approval comes before the registry filing.

That timing assumes a clean NUANS report and a complete package, which is why a person checks both before anything is filed.