Professional Corporation – Extra-Provincial Registration or Continuance into Alberta

A professional corporation (PC) is a corporation through which a licensed professional practises, and only professions whose governing Act allows it may use "Professional Corporation" in a name. In Alberta, voting shares must be held by licensed members of the profession, non-voting shares are limited to family where the profession's rules allow, and the regulator's permit or approval is required. Those rules apply to a corporation arriving from another province just as they do to a new one.

Register professional corporation in Alberta from another province: the two routes

Extra-provincial registration uses the standard Alberta package: a Statement of Registration (REG3055), a Notice of Agent for Service (REG3037), a certified copy of the charter documents, proof of current status from the home registry, an Alberta NUANS report less than 91 days old, and valid ID. Continuance is filed with Articles of Continuance, the home jurisdiction's authorization to continue out, and an Alberta NUANS report.

Which route is better for you depends on where you will practise, what the corporation holds, and the tax consequences of each. Ask your CPA; we set up the corporation the way your advisors recommend.

The regulator comes first

For a new Alberta PC the order of steps differs by profession, and the same regulators control a corporation arriving from elsewhere.

Share rules travel with the permit. CPSA allows voting shares only for physicians with active CPSA registration, with non-voting shares for their spouses, common-law partners and children. The Law Society allows only Active members to hold voting shares or the permit. CDSA allows family members to hold non-voting shares. If your current share structure includes a holding company or a family trust, tell us before we file so the articles can be brought into line.

Who this is for

• The physician moving to Alberta whose Ontario or BC medical corporation holds the practice, equipment and investments.
• The dentist buying into an Alberta practice who already has a dental corporation elsewhere.
• The lawyer or CPA relocating to Calgary or Edmonton and bringing the professional corporation along.
• The accountant or lawyer planning the move for a client who wants the registry and regulator steps in one documented sequence.

How it works

1. Tell us your profession, home province and the route you are leaning toward on the short online form. We confirm the regulator's sequence and the document list for your case before you pay.
2. You upload the charter documents and proof of status; we flag anything stale or missing the same day.
3. We prepare the regulator submission in the order the regulator sets, with articles or amended articles that match the share and naming rules, ready for your signature.
4. A CORES-trained agent prepares and checks the Alberta filing and orders the Alberta NUANS report (a name search that reserves the name for 90 days).
5. We file through a licensed Alberta registry agent once the regulator has signed off, then help you complete the permit application. ACS is a private company; we are not a government office or a registry agent.

Common mistakes we catch before filing

• Filing with Corporate Registry before the Law Society or CPA Alberta has endorsed the articles, which puts the steps out of order.
• A name that fails the Alberta regulator's naming rules or is not available on the NUANS report.
• A home-province share structure that Alberta's regulator will not permit, such as non-family or non-member shareholders.
• A certificate of status that is out of date by the time the package reaches the registry.
• No individual in Alberta named as agent for service. It must be an individual with an Alberta address, not the clinic or the firm.

What you need before you start

• The corporation's legal name, home jurisdiction and corporation number, and your Alberta regulator registration or membership number.
• A certified copy of the articles and any amendments, plus proof of current status from the home registry.
• The current directors, officers and shareholders, with each shareholder's class of shares.
• An agent for service: an individual located in Alberta with an Alberta address. We can act if you have no one here yet.
• For continuance, the home jurisdiction's authorization to continue out, once issued.
• Valid government photo ID for each signing professional.

Requirements in Alberta

• The regulator's permit or approval is required, and the order of steps is set by the regulator (see the table above).
• Voting shares must be held by licensed members; non-voting shares for family only where the profession's rules allow.
• An Alberta NUANS report less than 91 days old is required for both routes.
• Every Alberta corporation, and every extra-provincially registered one, needs an individual in Alberta as agent for service; they do not need to be a lawyer.
• Alberta corporations file an annual return every year in their anniversary month; the obligation for an extra-provincially registered PC is confirmed before you order.

Regulator times are outside our control and are listed separately for that reason. We do not promise a practice start date; we keep the filings from adding days to the regulator's clock.