Alberta NUANS Report – Name Search and 90-Day Reservation, Reviewed First

ACS is a private company. Our CORES-trained agents prepare your filing and submit it through a licensed Alberta registry agent. We are not a government office or a registry agent. CORES is Alberta's Corporate Registry System, and business owners cannot file in it themselves.

How to reserve a business name in Alberta for 90 days

Ordering the Alberta NUANS report is what reserves the name. From the report date you have 90 days to file the incorporation, society or extra-provincial registration, and Corporate Registry accepts the report only while it is less than 91 days old. If the window lapses, a new report is needed.

Two ways to avoid a second report. First, do not order the search until the rest of the package is close to ready: directors, registered office, agent for service. Second, if you are not sure of the name yet, incorporate as a numbered company, which needs no report, and add a trade name or change the name later.

When is a NUANS search required in Alberta?

• Required: a named Alberta corporation; a society (report less than 91 days old); an extra-provincial registration of a corporation formed outside Alberta (report less than 91 days old); the revival of a corporation dissolved three or more years ago.
• Not required: a numbered company, for example 1234567 Alberta Ltd.
• Optional but recommended: a trade name or partnership. Registration does not protect the name; a search reduces the risk of conflict.
• Name rules: distinctive element + descriptive element + legal element for a named corporation. A report on a name that breaks these rules is money spent on a name that cannot be filed, which is why we check first.

Who this is for

• Founders choosing a name for a new Alberta corporation who want to know it will be accepted before they commit.
• Groups forming a society, where an Alberta NUANS report less than 91 days old is mandatory.
• Out-of-province and federal corporations registering in Alberta, which also need an Alberta NUANS report less than 91 days old in the package.
• Trade name and partnership owners for whom the search is optional but wise, because registering a name does not protect it.
• Accountants, lawyers and paralegals who want the report and the review in the client file within the hour. See one account for every client.

How it works

1. Order online (about 5 minutes). Enter the name and what the business does; the total price is shown before you pay.
2. We check the name elements. If the name has no distinctive element or the wrong legal element, we call or email before ordering, so you do not pay for a report on a name that cannot be filed.
3. We order and read the report. A trained agent reviews every similar name listed and writes a short verdict: clear, borderline or likely to be rejected.
4. You receive the report and the verdict by email, usually within the hour during business hours, with the expiry date of your 90-day reservation and a link to file the incorporation.

Common mistakes we catch before filing

• A descriptive-only name, such as Alberta Plumbing Ltd., with no distinctive element.
• A place name doing the job of the distinctive element, such as Calgary Roofing Ltd., which is rarely distinctive enough and is often already in use.
• A name too close to a well-known company, which reads as confusingly similar even when the spelling differs.
• Letting the 90 days lapse while the rest of the package is assembled, then paying for a second report.
• A report ordered for another jurisdiction and offered for an Alberta filing.

What you need before you start

1. Your proposed name, with all three elements. "Aspen Grove Plumbing Ltd." has a distinctive element (Aspen Grove), a descriptive element (Plumbing) and a legal element (Ltd.).
2. A second choice, in case the first is clearly taken. We only order the second report if you ask us to.
3. What the business will do, in one line, so we can judge whether a similar existing name is in the same field.
4. A free pre-check, if you like. Use the free lookup on our Alberta corporate search page to see whether an identical corporate name is already registered before you order.

No ID is needed to order a report; ID is needed later, for the incorporation itself.

• The Alberta NUANS report as a PDF, the document Corporate Registry needs before it will file a named Alberta corporation, a society or an extra-provincial registration.
• A conflict review by a trained agent. We read the report and flag any name that is identical or confusingly similar to yours, so you know before incorporating whether to proceed, adjust the name or pick another.
• A check of the three name elements. A named Alberta corporation needs a distinctive element, a descriptive element and a legal element (Ltd., Limited, Inc., Incorporated, Corp. or Corporation). We tell you if one is missing before the report is ordered.
• Your 90-day reservation and the date the report expires, stated in the email, so the incorporation is filed while the report is less than 91 days old.
• A straight path to filing. When the name is clear, incorporate your Alberta corporation with the report already on file with us.