Sole Proprietorship – Register in Alberta Online, Same Business Day

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.

What does self-employed registration in Alberta actually involve?

There is no sole proprietorship registry in Alberta. A sole proprietorship is simply you, doing business. Getting set up means three things, in this order.

1. Corporate Registry: a trade name, if you use one. Alberta requires a trade name registration when an individual does business under a name other than their own personal name. It is filed through a registry agent with valid ID, has no periodic renewal, and is the document your bank will ask for. If you will trade only under your own personal name, you can skip this step.
2. CRA: a business number and program accounts. Your business number, GST account and payroll account (if you hire) are registered with CRA, not Alberta Corporate Registry. GST registration is required once your worldwide taxable revenues pass CRA's small-supplier threshold, measured over a single calendar quarter or over four consecutive quarters. Alberta has no PST.
3. Your municipality: a business licence. Calgary, Edmonton and many other municipalities require a business licence for many types of business. Check your city's business licence page; we do not charge for pointing you there.

If you hire staff, most employers must also open a WCB-Alberta account.

Personal liability, explained honestly. A sole proprietorship is not a separate legal entity. You and the business are the same legal person, so the business's debts and obligations are yours. That is fine for many small businesses. If you want a separate entity between you and the business, that is incorporation, and we set that up the same day too.

Sole proprietor vs corporation: which should you register?

Most people start as a sole proprietor because it is quick and simple, and incorporate later when the business, the contracts or the accountant call for it. Whether a corporation saves you tax depends on your situation; we do not give tax advice, and we will set up whichever your CPA recommends.

Who this is for

• The tradesperson or consultant going self-employed whose first client wants an invoice from a business, not a person.
• The freelancer or online seller who has been told to "register the business" and is not sure what that means in Alberta.
• The side business that needs its own bank account and a name on the storefront.
• The owner comparing options who wants to know whether to start as a sole proprietor or incorporate, without being sold anything.

How it works

1. Order online (about 10 minutes). Plain-language questions; the total price is shown before you pay.
2. We review within about an hour. A trained agent checks the name, your details and your ID, and calls you if anything would be rejected.
3. We prepare and file the declaration through our licensed registry agent partner, [Partner registry agent name]. Complete orders received before 3:00 pm MT are filed the same business day.
4. You receive your certificate and a next-steps note by email: CRA accounts, GST threshold, municipal licence.

Common mistakes we catch before filing

• Assuming the registration protects the name or creates a company. It does neither; it records who is behind the name.
• Forgetting GST registration once revenue passes the small-supplier threshold, because "nobody told me". We put it in your next-steps note.
• A name that suggests incorporation, such as one ending in Ltd. or Inc..
• Registering a trade name you do not need, because you will trade under your own personal name.
• Owner details that do not match the ID, which delays the filing.

What you need before you start

1. Your business name, or a decision to trade under your own personal name (in which case there is no registry step and you go straight to CRA).
2. Your full legal name and home address, which become the owner details on the registration.
3. The business address in Alberta.
4. Valid ID for you, the person signing the declaration.
5. Optional: an Alberta NUANS report ($68 + GST), recommended when the name is common. Registration does not protect the name; a search reduces the risk of conflict.

• Your trade name registered under Alberta's Partnership Act, with the declaration reviewed by a trained agent and the certificate emailed as a PDF, usually the same day.
• A name check first. We read the name for problems before filing, and if you add an Alberta NUANS report (a name search that lists similar existing names) we read that too.
• The next steps, in order. After filing, we send a short note on the CRA business number, GST registration and your municipal business licence, so nothing is missed.
• Optional CRA set-up. We can register your business number and GST or payroll accounts for $106 + GST.
• Honest advice on what a sole proprietorship does and does not do, and when a corporation is the better fit.