This kit is intended only as a guide to users; it does not replace or take precedence over the CBCA.
The purpose of this kit is to guide you in filing Form 11: Articles of Continuance to continue, under the provisions of the Canada Business Corporations Act (CBCA), a business that has been incorporated under other legislation. By providing all the required information with your initial application, you can help Corporations Canada process your continuance documents swiftly.
In this kit, you will find:
We suggest that you consult with legal counsel or other professional advisers in order to obtain additional information on opportunities to continue your corporation or on the consequences of continuance.
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The continuance of a corporation is regulated by sections 187 and 268 of the CBCA.
The continuance of a body corporate incorporated otherwise than by a federal law, such as a provincial, a state or a foreign country's law, is regulated by section 187 of the CBCA. The Director can continue this corporation provided continuance is permitted by the corporate law by which it is governed. If required by the law of the other jurisdiction, the request for continuance must include a document approving the continuance (often referred to as an "authorization") from that jurisdiction.
A copy of the relevant sections of the corporate statute governing the corporation must normally be provided with the request. The Director has already approved requests for continuance of corporations constituted in different Canadian jurisdictions; it is not necessary to provide a copy of the Act for such jurisdictions. In Annex 1 of this document, you will find the list of Canadian jurisdictions previously approved by the Director appointed under the CBCA.
For corporations governed by a federal corporate statute other than the CBCA, continuance under the CBCA is regulated by section 268 of the CBCA; a letter of approval is not normally required unless it is required by the Act under which the corporation is presently governed. Please consult section 268 of the CBCA for specific details concerning the continuance of your corporation.
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An application for a Certificate of Continuance must include the following documents:
There is no requirement that any form of "proof of facts" (such as affidavits or resolutions) be submitted with the request for continuance. It is the responsibility of the applicant, not the Director, to verify that the contents of the articles meet all requirements of the CBCA.
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Corporations Canada will check that your request is complete and in proper form and that the proposed name is acceptable. The examiners will determine whether laws of the non-federal jurisdiction under which your corporation is incorporated authorize it to change jurisdictions or, alternatively, whether the continuance of your federal corporation under the CBCA is authorized according to section 268 of the CBCA.
When a body corporate is incorporated under a jurisdiction that is not pre-approved by the Director, the Act under which the body corporate is actually incorporated will be examined by the Department of Justice. They would determine if the continuance can be authorized. The Act of the jurisdiction where the body corporate is incorporated no longer applies to the corporation. They would also determine if other requirements are needed before authorizing the continuance.
Once the continuance is approved, the Director will issue a Certificate of Continuance showing the date of receipt of your request as the effective date. If you prefer, you may request a later incorporation date instead. Please note that the CBCA applies as of the date shown on the Certificate of Continuance.
One copy of the Certificate of Continuance will be sent to the authority in the other jurisdiction that has issued an authorization to export. A notice setting out your corporation's name and the effective date of the continuance will appear on Corporations Canada's website.
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Sometimes requests are received that are incomplete, deficient or invalid. In such cases, Corporations Canada will send you a notice indicating how to address the issue. The following tables provide information pertaining to each of the above situations.
The request is missing mandatory information. For example, item 4 on Form 1: Articles of Incorporation indicates that the information is on Schedule 1, but no such schedule is provided. This is a paper request only issue because an electronic request cannot be submitted if it is incomplete.
Supporting information needed in order to issue a certificate is missing. For example, the consent to use a corporate name was not included.
The request applies to a corporation that is dissolved, amalgamated or continued. This is a paper request only issue because an electronic request cannot be submitted if it is invalid.
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Please see Form 11 for complete instructions on how to fill out the Articles of Continuance.
Write in the proposed name.
Example:
________________________ CANADA Inc.
A body corporate can continue with its current name, if available, or it can change its name in its Form 11: Articles of Continuance. The rules for searching the availability of a proposed corporate name and obtaining approval from the Director are the same for a continuing corporation as for a newly-incorporating corporation.
Your proposed corporate name must be approved by the Director appointed under the CBCA. The Director will examine your application to verify that it meets the requirements of the CBCA and the Regulations. The name proposed must be distinctive, must not cause confusion with any existing name or trade mark used in Canada, and must not be prohibited or misleading.
Whether you apply for pre-approval or request approval when you file Form 11: Articles of Continuance, you are responsible for providing all of the facts relevant to the name you are proposing, as well as a NUANS® report.
You must submit the information relating to the circumstances that led to your choosing the name in question to the Director in writing. You can use the Corporate Name Information Form, or you can submit a letter to the Director describing your corporation's activities and addressing the following points:
If you are satisfied that your corporate name is not likely to cause confusion, outline in your letter to the Director the arguments on which you have based your conclusion.
You must provide a search, that is, a NUANS® report under the federal rules for determining whether the name you are proposing is available. A NUANS® report is document setting out the business names and trade marks registered in Canada that sound or look similar to the name you are proposing. The list is drawn from a national data bank of existing and reserved trade names as well as trade marks that have been registered and applied for in Canada.
When you order a NUANS® report, that report has a life of 90 days from the date it is requested. A search house can advise you whether your proposed name is likely to be accepted by the Director. The final decision, however, always rests with the Director.
Instead of a name, you may ask the Director to assign your proposed corporation a number. Some incorporators do this when they have to incorporate a corporation urgently and do not have enough time to have a name approved. A number name must be requested when the Articles of Incorporation are submitted and the applicable fee paid. Obviously you do not submit a NUANS® report.
If you subsequently wish to adopt a trade name, you will have to order a NUANS® report, ask the Director to approve the name and pay a $200 fee for filing Articles of Amendment (Form 4) to change the corporation's name.
If your proposed corporation intends to carry on business in a region or regions where both English and French are spoken, you may wish to consider adopting a bilingual corporate name.
The procedure is the same as for a unilingual name, except that one NUANS® report is required for each name or variation requested. For example, two NUANS® reports must be filed in order to verify that the phonetically dissimilar English and French forms of a name are both distinctive.
Where the English and French forms are phonetically similar except for a legal element (e.g., Ltd./Ltée), only one NUANS® report will be necessary.
If your request for pre-approval is accepted, the name in question will be reserved for you for the life of the search report. If the Director has not made a decision within that 90-day period, you will have to submit a fresh request to reserve a name by ordering another NUANS® report.
If you have requested pre-approval and the Director's decision is favourable, your Form 11: Articles of Continuance will probably be processed promptly when you file them, provided that all other relevant information is submitted at the same time. Remember to include the letter approving your name when you submit your Articles of Continuance.
If your proposed name is returned to you, you can still submit a written request for the Director to re-examine his decision, having regard to the additional information. However, you will save time and money if you include all relevant information in your initial application.
A request for pre-approval may be made online at Corporations Canada Online Filing Centre, at www.corporationscanada.ic.gc.ca. Please refer to Corporations Canada's website for the procedures.
As well, you can submit your request for pre-approval by fax, mail or in person at Corporations Canada.
Please refer to the item "How to file your Form 11: Articles of Continuance and pay the fees" for contact information.
No fee is payable for a request for approval of a name.
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Indicate the province or territory in Canada in which the registered office is to be situated.
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Although most continuing corporate entities maintain their existing share structure, changes can be made if covered in the Special Resolution authorizing continuance
The CBCA sets out certain requirements for details regarding shares, including the following:
Examples:
"The corporation is authorized to issue an unlimited number of shares of one class."
or
"Unlimited number of shares in a single class."
"The corporation is authorized to issue an unlimited number of Class A and Class B shares. The Class A shareholders shall be entitled to vote at all shareholder meetings, except meetings at which only holders of a specified class of share entitle their holders to vote and to receive such dividend as the board of directors in their discretion shall declare. Subject to the provisions of the Canada Business Corporations Act, the Class B shares shall be non-voting. Upon liquidation or dissolution, the holders of Class A and Class B shares shall share equally the remaining property of the corporation"
or
"The corporation is authorized to issue Class A and Class B shares with the following rights, privileges, restrictions and conditions
The holders of Class B shares shall be entitled to vote at all meetings of shareholders.."
or
"The holders of Class B shares shall not, subject to the provisions of the Canada Business Corporations Act, be entitled to vote at any meetings of shareholders."
"The directors may authorize the issue of one or more series within each class of shares, and may fix the number of shares in each series, and determine the rights, privileges, restrictions and conditions attaching to the shares of each series subject to the limits provided in the articles." (As noted earlier, you may create a series of shares immediately in the Articles, rather than waiting until later.)
Share redemption:
If a fixed price is not stated, a redemption formula that can be determined in dollars must be used.
"The said Class X shares or any part thereof shall be redeemable at the option of the corporation without the consent of the holders thereof (at a price of $__ per share) or (at a price equal to the amount paid per share) plus any declared and unpaid dividend."
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Example:
"No shares of the capital of the Corporation shall be transferred without either (a) the sanction of a majority of the directors of the corporation or alternatively (b) the sanction of the majority of the shareholders of the corporation."
or
"No shares of the corporation shall be transferred without the approval of the directors evidenced by resolution of the board, provided that approval of any transfer of shares may be given as aforesaid after the said transfer has been effected upon the records of the corporation, in which event, unless the said resolution stipulates otherwise, the said transfer shall be valid and shall take effect as from the date of its entry upon the books of the corporation."
Example
"The corporation shall not make a distribution to the public of any of its securities."
"The number of shareholders is limited to fifty, not including persons who are in the employment of the corporation and persons who, having been formerly in the employment of the corporation, were, while in that employment, and have continued after the termination of that employment, to be shareholders of the corporation, two or more persons holding one or more shares jointly being counted as a single shareholder."
Adding these clauses will prevent the corporation from becoming an issuer that is required, under provincial securities legislation, to file a prospectus or register shares on a stock exchange.
In fact, your corporation will be a "non-distributing" corporation unless, under the definition in subsection 2(1) of the Regulations, the corporation:
Under subsections 2(6) and 2(7) of the CBCA, the Director may also determine that a corporation is not or was not a distributing corporation if the Director is satisfied that the determination would not be prejudicial to the public interest.
You may specify a minimum and maximum number or a fixed number of directors. However, to permit cumulative voting, the number of directors must be fixed. Moreover, if the corporation is a "distributing" corporation, there must be at least three directors.
Example
"A minimum of 1 and a maximum of 7."
or
"Five directors."
A CBCA corporation has all the rights of a natural person, and normally one would not wish to limit this power.
Example:
If there are to be no restrictions, simply state "NONE."
The business of the corporation shall be limited to the following:…
It should be noted that section 3 of the CBCA itself prohibits CBCA corporations from carrying on the business of a bank or an insurance or trust and loan company, or carry on business as a degree-granting institution.
Please indicate the previous name of your corporation under the exporting jurisdiction, if a change was effected upon continuance. Also give details such as the date of the previous incorporation and the exporting jurisdiction.
The CBCA allows you to include a number of additional provisions in Form 11: Articles of Continuance. This item is frequently used to include clauses to meet the requirements of other laws or institutions.
The following list illustrates the kind of wording generally adopted for the more frequently occurring features. This listing is not complete and the wording is only a suggestion.
A provision regarding directors' borrowing powers and their delegation is sometimes used to limit the authority of directors and/or to satisfy lending institutions:
Example:
"If authorized by by-law which is duly made by the directors and confirmed by ordinary resolution, the directors of the corporation may from time to time:
Any such by-law may provide for the delegation of such powers by the directors to such officers or directors of the corporation to such extent and in such manner as may be set out in the by-law.
Nothing herein limits or restricts the borrowing of money by the corporation on bills of exchange or promissory notes made, drawn, accepted or endorsed by or on behalf of the corporation."
You may include provisions for cumulative voting for directors, but only if the number of directors is a fixed number:
Example:
"There shall be cumulative voting for directors."
You may insert wording similar to the following to increase the majority vote by shareholders:
Example:
"In order to effect any (ordinary and/or special1) resolution passed at a meeting of shareholders2, a majority of not less than per cent of the votes cast by the shareholders who voted in respect of that resolution shall be required."
Example:
"It is hereby provided that the corporation may use and may be equally designated by the following form outside Canada: …"
(Note: do not use item 8 to state the French or English form of the corporate name for use inside Canada – use item 1)
Example:
"A holder of a fractional share shall be entitled to exercise voting rights and to receive dividends in respect of said fractional share."
Example:
"It is hereby provided that no shares of a class of shares shall be issued unless the shares have first been offered to the shareholders holding shares of that class, and those shareholders have a pre-emptive right to acquire the offered shares in proportion to their holdings of the shares of that class, at such price and on such terms as those shares are to be offered to others."
Example:
"No person otherwise qualified shall be elected or appointed as a director unless such person beneficially owns at least one share issued by the corporation."
Example:
"Any vacancy among the directors shall be filled by a vote of the shareholders."
Example:
"The quorum for any meeting of the board of directors shall be ____________."
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Form 11: Articles of Continuance must be signed by a director or an authorized officer of the company.
An authorized officer is a person appointed by the directors. The appointment is subject to the Articles, the by-laws, or any unanimous shareholder agreement. The officer may be the chair of the board of directors, the president of the corporation, a vice-president, the secretary, treasurer or comptroller, legal counsel, general manager, a managing director or any other person who performs functions for a corporation similar to those normally performed by a person who holds one of those positions.
Form 11, which is filed with the Director through the Corporations Canada Online Filing Centre or sent by fax, need not necessarily contain the original signatures of the incorporator(s). However, signed copies of the original documents must be retained in the records of the corporation.
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Please, refer to the form to get complete instructions.
Indicate at item 1 the name of the corporation as indicated in Form 11: Articles of Continuance.
Indicate at item 2 the address of the registered office. It must be a complete street address within the province or territory specified in Form 11: Articles of Continuance. Please indicate at item 3 the mailing address if it is different from the address of the registered office.
Indicate at item 4 the name and family name of all directors. The number of directors must correspond to the number indicated in item 6 of Form 11: Articles of Continuance. You must indicate the residential address (a post office or a business address won't be accepted) of each director and indicate if he/she is Canadian resident.
Note that at least 25 per cent of the directors must be Canadians residents. However, some restrictions apply:
However, if a parent corporation belonging to one of those categories (i.e., carrying on a business referred to above, or that must meet requirements respecting Canadian participation or control under a federal Act or regulations) and its subsidiaries earn less than five per cent of their gross revenue in Canada, only one third of the corporation's directors need be resident Canadians.
Form 2 must be signed by an individual who has relevant knowledge of the corporation and who is authorized to sign by the directors.
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Form 11: Articles of Continuance can be sent to Corporations Canada through one of the following means:
| Address | Fees | Method of payment | Notice of Receipt and certificate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Online | www:corporationscanada.ic.gc.ca | $200 | Credit card: (American Express®, MasterCard® or Visa®) |
An electronic notice is sent by e-mail. The certificate will be sent by e-mail in PDF format. |
| corporationscanada@ic.gc.ca
Attach to your e-mail a complete request. You must keep the original signed copy with your corporate records. |
$200 | Credit card: (American Express®, MasterCard® or Visa®) |
No notice sent to the sender. Certificate will be sent by e-mail. |
|
| Fax | 613-941-4803 You must keep the original signed copy with your corporate records. |
$200 | Credit card: (American Express®, MasterCard® or Visa®) |
No notice sent to the sender. Certificate will be sent by fax. |
| Corporations Canada Industry Canada Jean Edmonds Tower South 9th floor Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0C8 |
$200 | Credit card:
(American Express®, MasterCard® or Visa®) or
Cheque made out to the Receiver General for Canada. |
No notice sent to the sender. Certificate will be sent to the applicant by mail. |
|
| In Person | From Monday to Friday, between 8:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., at Corporations Canada |
$200 | Credit card: (American Express®, MasterCard® or Visa®) or Cheque made out to the Receiver General for Canada or Cash |
Certificate will be sent to the applicant by mail or courier at his/her choice. |
Form 11: Articles of Continuance is available on Corporations Canada's website. Instructions appear on the form. Form 11: Articles of Continuance can also be obtained by calling the Client Services Section at 1-866-333-5556.
For additional information on Corporations Canada products and services, please visit Corporations Canada's Web site or call 1-866-333-5556.
You can also contact Corporations Canada at:
Client Services Section
Corporations Canada
Industry Canada
9th floor, Jean Edmonds Tower South
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0C8
Fax: 613-941-0601
Corporations Canada's website
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| Jurisdiction | Requested Documents |
|---|---|
| Alberta |
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| British Columbia |
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| Manitoba |
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| New Brunswick |
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| Newfoundland and Labrador |
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| Northwest Territories |
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| Nova Scotia |
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| Nunavut |
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| Ontario |
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| Prince Edward Island |
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| Saskatchewan |
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| Yukon |
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1 The CBCA specifies a simple majority for an ordinary resolution and two-thirds majority for a special resolution. Therefore, any figure set out in the articles must be greater than these statutory majorities.. Return to reference 1
2 Other than a resolution to remove a director (see subsection 6(4) of the CBCA). Return to reference 2
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