Under the Ontario Business Names Act, every individual who carries on business or identifies him or herself to the public under a name other than his or her own name must register the name of the business with the registrar of the Ontario Ministry of Consumer and Commercial Relations. Similarly every partnership name must be registered as well as any business name adopted or used by a corporation when the business name is not the actual incorporated legal name of the corporation. The purpose of requiring business name registrations is to allow the public to know who is behind the business, as well as the place of business, and mailing address. These are essential pieces of information if the consumer wanted to claim on a warranty, make a complaint, or start a lawsuit. It means that you the public are entitled to know the identity of the individual, the partner or the corporation who wishes to do business with you.

What are the penalties for failure to register your business name?

Under the Ontario Business Names Act, every individual, partner and corporation who carries on business or identifies him, herself or itself to the public under a name other than his, her or its own name must register the name of the business with the registrar of the Ontario Ministry of Consumer and Commercial Relations . There are essentially two penalties provided by the Ontario Business Names Act for failure to register the business name. For an individual the fine that can be imposed by the court could be as high as $2000; for a corporation the fine can be up to $25,000. In addition section 7 of the Ontario Business Names Act prohibits the individual, partnership or corporation who has not registered his/her or its business name, from using the court system to sue third parties. Such a penalty or prohibition can be a very effective way to protect an Ontario consumer who has been wronged by the non-registered business. This does not mean however that the contract between the consumer and the non-registered business is either void or voidable.

Are there any special rules about a business names?

Under the regulations made pursuant to the Ontario Business Names Act, a business name cannot include, in any language, a word or expression that is contrary to public policy, including a word or expression that is scandalous, obscene or immoral. Examples would be common four letter swear words. Only certain punctuation marks or other marks set out in regulation 122/91 may form part of a registered name, and one may not use a business name which consists only of, or primarily of, a combination of punctuation marks and other marks. If a business name contains characters from an alphabet other than the roman alphabet, the name registration must be a translation into a language containing only letters from the roman alphabet. If a name is prohibited under federal or other provincial legislation, then it also cannot be registered. If you are a sole proprietor registering your business name, you cannot use the words "partner" or "partners" because that would suggest that you are a legal entity that you are not.


Why does the government allow a business to use a numbered Ontario corporate name, such as 1164243 Ontario limited, or a numbered Canada corporate name such as 3440397 Canada inc?

The public I am sure can often be frustrated in dealing with numbered corporations such as 1164243 Ontario limited or 3440397 Canada inc. It almost seems like the business person behind the numbered corporation wants to hide from the public. This occurs because it is more difficult to remember an eight to ten digit number, than it is to remember a word name for a corporation. Often the business owners cannot remember their own numbered name. The use of domain names on the Internet instead of the actual eleven-digit computer address occurs for exactly the same reason - to help us humans remember more easily by using names rather than numbers. The governments of Ontario and Canada have business corporation acts which allow the use of numbered corporations because it is sometimes very difficult to find a distinctive word name for a new corporation. Proposed corporate names must be cleared through a database consisting of all previously registered sole proprietors, partners, corporations, trade marks in Canada. Every day it becomes more difficult to find a distinctive word name for a new corporation. However, each new number assigned to a numbered Ontario or Canada Corporation is uniquely distinctive. Numbered corporations are convenient.