Constituting a business corporation in Québec costs $397 at the enterprise registrar, at the regular rate. These duties are not taxable and are added to professional fees. Most routine declarations are free; what you pay for is the initial registration, the annual duties, and putting things right when a file has been let slide.
The amounts below come from form RE-101 of the Québec enterprise registrar, January 2026 version. We republish them because we bill them every week and we see how hard they are to find in the right place. Official source: Québec enterprise registrar, form RE-101.
What does incorporating in Québec cost in 2026?
The certificate of constitution of a Québec business corporation costs $397 at the regular rate, or $595.50 if you ask for priority processing. It is the only mandatory government duty to create the corporation. The name reservation, at $27, remains optional. The lawyer's fees are added to that amount, as are the taxes on those fees: the government duties themselves are not taxable.
The priority rate speeds up the registrar's processing only. It changes nothing about the time it takes to prepare the file, which is almost always the longer step. In the great majority of cases it is not worth it.
| Application | Regular | Priority | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Certificate of constitution | $397.00 | $595.50 | Québec business corporation. |
| Certificate of amendment | $206.00 | $309.00 | Change of name, share capital or restrictions. |
| Certificate of amalgamation or conversion | $397.00 | $595.50 | — |
| Certificate of continuance | $263.00 | $394.50 | Coming under the Québec regime. |
| Authorization to continue under another statute | $263.00 | $394.50 | Departure to another regime. |
| Application to correct articles | $206.00 | $309.00 | Certificate included where applicable. |
| Certificate of restated articles | $206.00 | $309.00 | — |
| Certificate of arrangement | $206.00 | $309.00 | — |
| Certificate of cancellation of articles | $206.00 | $309.00 | — |
| Certificate of dissolution | Free | $53.00 | Only priority processing is charged. |
| Name reservation | $27.00 | $40.50 | Name search report included. Held for 90 days. |
Duties tied to the enterprise register
These come under the Act respecting the legal publicity of enterprises and cover every legal form, not only business corporations. One observation often surprises people: most routine declarations are free at the regular rate. What you pay for is the initial registration, the annual duties, and putting things right when a file has been set aside.
| Declaration | Regular | Priority | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Registration declaration, business corporation | $397.00 | $595.50 | Federal or extra-provincial corporation registering in Québec. |
| Registration declaration, sole proprietorship | $41.00 | $61.50 | — |
| Registration declaration, partnership | $63.00 | $94.50 | General or limited partnership. |
| Initial declaration, within 60 days | Free | $53.00 | — |
| Annual updating declaration, on time | Free | $53.00 | The annual registration duties are added. |
| Current updating declaration | Free | $53.00 | Change of address, director or activities. |
| Cancellation declaration | Free | $53.00 | — |
| Dissolution or liquidation declaration | Free | $53.00 | — |
| Revocation of a cancellation | $134.00 | $201.00 | To bring a struck-off corporation back onto the register. |
| Resumption of existence | $134.00 | $201.00 | — |
| Attestation | $27.00 | $40.50 | — |
| Certification of a document | $39.00 | $58.50 | — |
| Copy or extract of a document | $5.00 | $7.50 | Per document. |
The annual registration duties
They are paid every year, with the annual updating declaration or with the tax return depending on the legal form. They are not required in the year following registration, except where that registration follows a cancellation.
| Legal form | 2026 annual duties |
|---|---|
| For-profit business corporation | $106.00 |
| Sole proprietorship | $41.00 |
| Partnership | $63.00 |
| Non-profit legal person | $41.00 |
| Cooperative | $48.00 |
Lateness is expensive. A penalty of 5% of the unpaid balance is added, then 1% per full month of delay, up to twelve months. On a $106 balance left for six months, that comes to $11.66 in penalties. And two consecutive defaults lead to being struck from the register: the corporation then loses its legal existence while keeping its obligations, and bringing it back costs $134 more.
What these amounts do not include
Neither professional fees, nor the taxes on those fees, nor the NUANS report required for a federal constitution, nor the cost of a private name search service. A complete Québec incorporation with us comes to $549 in fees plus the registrar's $397, with taxes on the fees only, that is $1,028.21 all in.
One point to watch for federal corporations: registering in Québec costs the same $397 as a Québec constitution. A federal corporation operating here therefore pays under both regimes, at creation and every year after. The federal amounts are in our page on the Corporations Canada fees.
Why these amounts change, and when to check
The registrar revises its fees by regulation, generally at the start of the calendar year. The version in force here is marked RE-101 (2026-01). Two habits are worth keeping: read the version date before relying on an amount, and be wary of figures repeated on third-party sites that do not date their information. We update this page with each new publication of the form, and the revision date appears at the top.
If an amount looks different from what you paid, two explanations come up: priority processing, billed on top, and annual duties for an earlier year, which follow their own schedule by year.