Alberta Professional Corporation – Incorporate the Way Your College Requires

Your regulator's own application and permit fees are paid to the regulator and are not included. 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.

Why the order of steps matters for a professional corporation permit in Alberta

Each regulator wants to see the articles at a different point. Filing at the wrong moment means Articles of Amendment, a second fee, or a permit application that comes back.

• Law Society of Alberta and CPA Alberta: approval or endorsement of the articles comes first; only then are the articles filed with Corporate Registry. Lawyers then apply for the permit with Form 8-1 and the Certificate of Incorporation.
• CPSA: the physician signs the articles, CPSA endorses them, the endorsed articles are filed, and the permit application (PC Application Form, Certificate of Incorporation and fee) follows.
• CDSA: the dentist signs the articles, CDSA reviews them first, and the approved articles are then filed.
• APEGA: the corporation is registered first, then it applies for the Permit to Practice.

We track which step you are on and do not file until the regulator's step is complete.

Alberta professional corporation rules by profession

Permit renewals: CPSA annually alongside the practice permit; Law Society of Alberta by December 31 each year through the Lawyer Portal; CDSA annual permit $100. Every professional corporation also files an Alberta annual return in its anniversary month.

Other regulated professions, such as chiropractors, optometrists, pharmacists and veterinarians, have their own rules under their college. Ask us before you order and we will confirm the sequence.

Who this is for

• Physicians and surgeons starting practice, working as locums or joining a clinic, who need CPSA-endorsed articles before filing.
• Dentists who need articles that name the College of Dental Surgeons of Alberta, not the former association.
• Lawyers and Chartered Professional Accountants whose regulator must approve the articles before anything reaches Corporate Registry: see law professional corporations and CPA professional corporations.
• CPAs and law firms filing for clients who want the sequence handled and every document formatted for the minute book.

Engineers and geoscientists incorporate an ordinary Alberta corporation and then apply for an APEGA Permit to Practice; see engineering companies in Alberta.

How it works

1. Order and tell us your profession (about 10 minutes). We confirm the sequence that applies and the regulator's current requirements.
2. We draft, you sign. Complete orders received before 3:00 pm MT get draft articles the same business day. Physicians and dentists must sign the articles personally, so we send them to you, not to counsel.
3. Regulator review. We prepare the submission and send it, or hand it to you where the regulator requires your own portal or email. CPSA states within 15 business days; CDSA about 4 business days; CPA Alberta 15–20 business days; Law Society of Alberta.
4. Registry filing (same business day). Once the approved or endorsed articles are back, we file them with the three notices through a licensed registry agent and email your Certificate of Incorporation.
5. Permit application. We assemble the certificate and filed documents for your permit application. The regulator issues the permit, not us.

Common mistakes we catch before filing

• Filing the articles with Corporate Registry before the Law Society or CPA Alberta has approved or endorsed them.
• Articles signed by counsel or an assistant instead of the physician or dentist.
• Voting shares issued to a spouse or a holding company; voting shares belong to licensed members only.
• A name without the required designation, or one that does not follow the regulator's naming rules.
• Applying for the permit before the Certificate of Incorporation exists, or using template clauses that still name a former regulator.

What you need before you start

1. Your registration with the regulator. Your CPSA, CDSA, Law Society or CPA Alberta registration number and status; only licensed members may hold voting shares.
2. A proposed name that follows your regulator's naming rules and, for lawyers, contains "Professional Corporation" or "P.C.". We order the Alberta NUANS report (a name search that reserves the name for 90 days and must be less than 91 days old at filing).
3. Shareholders. The licensed members who will hold voting shares, and any family members your college allows to hold non-voting shares. If your CPA has planned share classes, send us their instructions.
4. A registered office (a physical Alberta address) and an agent for service (an individual located in Alberta who receives legal documents; not necessarily a lawyer).
5. Valid ID for the incorporator, and your regulator's fee, paid to the regulator.

• Articles of Incorporation drafted with the mandatory clauses for your profession: the name in the form your regulator requires, and share provisions that restrict voting shares to licensed members.
• The regulator's submission, prepared for you: the CPSA articles submission form, the CPA Alberta PC Registration Application, the email package for CDSA, or the request for Law Society approval of the articles.
• Same-business-day filing of the approved or endorsed articles, the Notice of Address, the Notice of Directors and the Notice of Agent for Service, through a licensed registry agent.
• Certificate of Incorporation and every filed document as PDFs, by email.
• Your permit package: the certificate and filed documents in the form your regulator asks for with the permit application.
• Optional: a minute book with bylaws, organizational resolutions, registers and share certificates that carry the regulator's share restrictions, added to your order for $389 + GST.