Hi,
First up, for anyone looking at this, you definitely can start a company/business etc. on the Working Holiday Visa/Program in Canada. There are other forums and threads with mis-information/incorrect information on this. You can and it is pretty easy (if you know what to do and where to go).
There is a free service called "The Business Link" in Calgary and Edmonton, which provides free information and support to anyone with a new business. Use them as much as you want, you can call or drop in to their offices. I found them quite informative. They also have a specialist each day of the week (each day is a different specialist) that comes in and you can arrange a session with them for free advice. Once again, use them to get the information you need!
These are the steps I took to setup my basic Incorporated/Limited company. These steps are in the chronological order and specific to Calgary Alberta (Anyone in Alberta could use these, but step 7 would be your city). My company is specifically a contract drafter/designer in the design engineering industry.
1. Go to a Authorised Registration Office, take your Passport (with Visa inside) and proof of address (Letter from bank etc). Search for registry offices here at servicealberta website. You can't go to any Alberta Motor Association offices unless you are a member.
2. Say you want to Incorporate a company.
3. They will then need you to choose a name and they will do an Alberta NUANCE name search. This will ensure the name doesn't clash with an existing company. This for some reason takes 30-60min and costs $45 (Cost varies depending on the registration office you go to. They are all private companies and take a different cut on top of the state set fee. There may be some places online that offer it slightly cheaper for say $25 but I would just get the office where you are doing it to do the search).
4. Once that has come through then you will be able to incorporate the company and they will require you to fill out 3 forms. First is the Name you want to Incorporate the form is called Articles of Incorporation (REG3047.pdf) (For the 2nd question on the sheet if it is just you in the company you will need to put '100 CLASS "A" COMMON VOTING SHARES", Q3 "None", Q4 "1 to 3", Q5 "None", Q6 "None")
, Second is a list of the Directors of the company (REG3017.pdf) (On the Working Holiday Program you are considered a resident so you can say Yes to that) and finally you need fill out a form to say the address of your business (REG3016.pdf). This will just be your home address if you're just consulting to companies like I will be. The cost to Incorporate the company is $355 (But once again this may vary from one registry office to the next, brilliant).
5. That is it in terms of the Registry office. They will give you a Certificate of Incorporation and then you are done with them. I would advise you to get your Alberta Health Card and Drivers License as well while you are there (It isn't a place you want to be going back to regularly,,,, you'll see what i mean by that when you get there).
6. If you're going to be earning more than $30,000 you have to register for GST. You can do this by calling 1800-959-5525. When you do this, they will also provide you with a BN for your company as well as your GST number (which is just an extra code RT0001 on the end of your BN).
7. Next you will need to call the City of Calgary on 403-268-5511 to Licence the Business to operate in Calgary. If you are like me and working as a consultant away from your house then this will be just a Class 1 License (you are effectively operating your business from your home, but it doesn't display any signs of a business to the outside and nothing is really stored there etc.). But they will go through this on the phone with you. The Class 1 Licensing costs $48.
8. There might be a provincial license applicable for you, but for me there wasn't. Give the province business line
9. That's basically it. All you need to do now is purchase your required insurances (mine was just General Liability Insurance $750/year for $2 Mil cover). You just need to remember to keep all your records, complete your Annual Report (due the month ending 13 months after starting), and complete your tax forms (if you choose to do your business tax at the end of the fiscal year, Dec 31, then your tax payments will be due by the end of March and your forms by the end of July.... Yes this is crazy as you would need to do your forms before you know what your payments are going to be,,,, but that's just how crazy some government are,,, so really your tax forms and payment will be due by March 31. Once you have done your first year you will have to start paying quarterly installments. These installments are your responsibility to work out and pay. It will be basically worked out on your first years total tax payable divided by 4. You then need to pay that each quarter. We are getting off topic a bit but all handy information).
Well that's about it. Hope you found some information to help you out if you need it.
Cheers,
Tony
