Setting up and maintaining professional corporations for regulated professionals in Ontario — physicians, dentists, lawyers, accountants, engineers, and others — including the certificate of authorization your regulator requires.
Many regulated professionals in Ontario can incorporate a professional corporation to carry on their practice — physicians, dentists, lawyers, accountants, engineers, and others. Done properly, it can offer tax-planning advantages and a more efficient structure for your practice. But a professional corporation has specific rules that an ordinary company does not, and your regulator has to sign off before you can operate.
Only members of a profession that permits professional corporations can set one up, and typically the voting shareholders must themselves be members of that profession. Some health professions (for example medicine and dentistry) allow family members to hold certain non-voting shares, which opens up planning options. The rules vary by profession, so the structure has to be built to your regulator's requirements.
Incorporating is only half the job. Before the professional corporation can practise, it generally needs a certificate of authorization (or equivalent permit) from the profession's governing body — the College, Law Society, or other regulator. We handle both the incorporation and the certificate application, and the naming rules the regulator imposes.
This is the point professionals most often misunderstand: a professional corporation does not shield you from liability for your own professional negligence. You remain personally responsible for your professional work. What the structure can offer is tax deferral and planning flexibility, and limited protection against certain ordinary business (non-professional) liabilities. We make sure you understand exactly what the structure does before you rely on it.
We incorporate the professional corporation, obtain the certificate of authorization, put the share structure and minute book in place, and set up the corporation so its ongoing renewals and filings stay in good standing with the regulator.
A professional corporation is a genuinely useful tool for the right professional — but only if it is set up to your regulator's rules and you understand what it protects. The value is in getting both right.
Members of a profession whose governing body permits professional corporations — including physicians, dentists, lawyers, accountants, and engineers, among others. Typically the voting shareholders must be members of the profession, though some health professions allow family members to hold certain non-voting shares.
No. A professional corporation does not shield you from personal liability for your own professional negligence — you remain responsible for your professional work. What it can offer is tax deferral and planning flexibility, and some protection against ordinary, non-professional business liabilities.
It depends on the profession. Some regulators — notably in medicine and dentistry — allow family members to hold non-voting shares, which enables certain tax planning. Others restrict shareholders to members of the profession. The permitted structure is set by your governing body, and we build to it.
It is the permit your profession's governing body issues authorizing a professional corporation to practise. Incorporating the company is not enough on its own — the corporation generally cannot carry on the profession until the certificate (or equivalent) is in place. We handle both steps together.
Get the structure and the regulator sign-off right. Initial consultations are short and no-cost.
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