Corporate Registry

Frequently Asked Questions on the Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement

General Questions

GENERAL QUESTIONS

My business is registered under TILMA.  What is the impact of the New West Partnership Trade Agreement when it takes effect on July 1, 2012?

Businesses registered under TILMA will automatically be registered under the new agreement.  The business will not be required to take any action.  The services and processes put in place to support TILMA will continue largely to be unchanged with the exception that some of these services will be expanded to include Saskatchewan starting July 1, 2012.  To find out more information on the New West Partnership Trade Agreement, please see the NWPTA FAQs.

What is the Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement?

The Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement was signed by the provinces of British Columbia and Alberta on April 28, 2006. The intent of the agreement is to remove and eliminate trade, investment and labour mobility barriers, to establish an open, efficient and stable domestic market in Alberta and British Columbia, and to demonstrate the benefits of freer trade within Canada.

How will the Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement affect my corporation?

A corporation no longer has to file an annual report in both jurisdictions, only the one where it is incorporated.  All filing fees have been eliminated.

Do I have to pay any statutory fees?

Under the Trade, Investment and Labour Mobililty Agreement, statutory fees associated with filing documents in both Alberta and British Columbia have been eliminated.

However, there is still a requirement to pay the statutory name approval fee in British Columbia and the Alberta names search (NUANS) fee in Alberta.

When was the Trade, Investment and Labour Molbility Agreement fully implemented?

The Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement was fully implemented on April 1, 2009. Changes to Corporate Registry systems such as Name Requests Online and Corporate Online were implemented and operational April 27, 2009.

Several parts of the agreement came into force April 1, 2007. The transitional provisions under Part lV of the Agreement, including changes to Part ll, Article 11: Investment (covers business registration) came into effect on April 1, 2009.

My company is based in Manitoba but I would like to do business in British Columbia and Alberta. Would the Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement apply to my company?

No, the Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement only applies to business entities that have a home jurisdiction in either British Columbia or Alberta that want to do business in the other province.

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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS FOR A BRITISH COLUMBIA COMPANY CONDUCTING BUSINESS IN ALBERTA

Do I have to register my company in Alberta?

If your corporation is intending to do business in Alberta, you must register in that province. The process of registering and maintaining that registration will be facilitated by the Corporate Registry in British Columbia. Businesses must still comply with local government licensing and related requirements in both jurisdictions.

Do I have to go to Alberta if I want to register there?

No, if your corporation is intending to do business in Alberta, you can register by contacting BC Registry Services.  Staff will help you to register depending on whether you have already incorporated or not.

Can I register extraprovincially in Alberta when I incorporate in British Columbia?

Yes. To help make the registration process easy and seamless, the Name Requests Online system asks clients creating British Columbia companies if they intend to do business in Alberta and will facilitate the Alberta names search (NUANS) on their behalf.  NRO will advise the client by email of the results of the NUANS search, as well as the results of the name approval request in British Columbia.

Corporate Online facilitates registration of a British Columbia company in Alberta.  Information required to facilitate registration in Alberta is requested as part of the existing transactions that create a new British Columbia company.  There is a self-serve transaction on Corporate Online for those existing British Columbia companies who intend to do business in Alberta and need to register there. 

The registration information collected by Corporate Online is automatically sent to the Alberta Registry. The Alberta Registry then issues the appropriate registration confirmation to the extraprovincial company. 

Simple instructions and help text accompany these transactions to make the process as streamlined as possible.

My business is not incorporated, do I need to register in Alberta if I am doing business there?

No, only businesses that are incorporated need to register.  General partnerships and sole proprietorships do not need to register in Alberta. 

If I am an existing company in British Columbia and would like to do business in Alberta what do I need?

You will need to have your name approved in Alberta.  You will also need to establish an attorney for service in Alberta.

Once your name is approved in Alberta, you can go to Corporate Online at www.corporateonline.gov.bc.ca  and choose the transaction called “Register a B.C. Company in Alberta”.  This transaction will ask you for some information including the name and address of the attorney you have chosen to represent the corporation in Alberta.

Simple instructions and help text accompany these transactions to make the process as streamlined as possible.

Are there any costs for me to register my corporation in Alberta?

You will need to pay for the Alberta names search (NUANS). There are no additional fees to register your company extraprovincially in Alberta, as all registration and other filing fees were eliminated under the Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement.

Why do I need to establish an attorney for service in Alberta?

An attorney for service must be established in order to receive notices in that province. 

After registration in Alberta, am I required to file any additional or subsequent information?

Yes. You are required to keep information about your head office and attorney for service up to date.  However, now that the Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement is fully implemented, you are not required to file an annual return in Alberta.

If my corporation is already extraprovincially registered in Alberta, how does the Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement affect that registration?

You are no longer required to file an annual return with Alberta.  Other filings to update information about your registration such as the attorney for service in Alberta are now free, and can be submitted to Alberta by going to Corporate Online.

What happens to my Alberta extraprovincial registration if my corporation is no longer active?

If your company is no longer active in British Columbia and an annual return is no longer being filed with the BC Registry Services, you will be notified of the dissolution of your corporation and, following a specified period, your corporation  will be dissolved for failure to file its annual return.  This information will be transmitted to Alberta and they will automatically cancel your registration there.

Do I need to have my name approved for use in Alberta if I have a numbered company name?

No you do not need to have the numbered name approved, but you still need to choose an attorney for service and still need to submit information to register in Alberta. 

My corporation is registered extraprovincially in Alberta and we are changing our attorney in Alberta.  What do I need to do?

There is a self-serve transaction in Corporate Online to update your Alberta attorney for service.  Go to Corporate Online and select "Change of Attorney (TILMA)" from the menu list to submit the change to Alberta.

My company is registered extraprovincially in Alberta and we need to update our head office address. How do I do this?

There is a self-serve transaction in Corporate Online to update information related to any change of address of your head office. Go to Corporate Online and select "Change of Head Office (TILMA)" from the menu list to submit this change of information.

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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS FOR BRITISH COLUMBIA LIMITED PARTNERSHIPS AND LIMITED LIABILITY PARTNERSHIPS CONDUCTING BUSINESS IN ALBERTA

What do I need to register extraprovincially in Alberta?

If a limited liability partnership wishes to register extraprovincially in Alberta, it will have to provide an Alberta resident attorney for service.  There is no requirement for a limited partnership to have an Alberta resident attorney for service.

What is the impact of the Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement on limited partnerships and limited liability partnerships?

The staff at BC Registry Services will facilitate extraprovincial registration in Alberta of both types of partnerships. To make the registration process easy, the Name Requests Online system will ask clients wanting to register limited partnerships and limited liability partnerships in British Columbia, whether they want to do business in Alberta.  If you answer “yes”, you will be directed to the BC Registry Services website and asked to complete forms for registration in British Columbia and in Alberta.  Both forms will be submitted to BC Registry Services.  The registry will file the form to register the entity in British Columbia and send the other form to Alberta for extraprovincial registration.  There is no requirement by Alberta for a registry names search (NUANS) to be conducted for limited partnerships or limited liability partnerships.

Extraprovincial registration filing fees have been eliminated in both provinces. In addition, filing of annual reports is no longer required.

Both provinces require a limited liability partnership to maintain an attorney for service if it registers extraprovincially.

In order to comply with the Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement, British Columbia requires an Alberta limited partnership to have a resident attorney in British Columbia.

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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS FOR COOPERATIVE ASSOCIATIONS CONDUCTING BUSINESS IN ALBERTA

Are British Columbia cooperative associations doing business in Alberta impacted?

Yes they are. The same benefits afforded British Columbia corporations also apply to British Columbia cooperative associations. Existing cooperative associations registered in Alberta no longer have to file an annual return in Alberta. However, they must still keep their attorney information up to date. All filing fees have been eliminated as well.

If you are a cooperative association and you want to incorporate in British Columbia and do business in Alberta, BC Registry Services will help you with your name approval in Alberta and will also facilitate registration for you.

Go to the BC Registry Services website for more information on British Columbia cooperative associations and TILMA.

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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS FOR SOLE PROPRIETORSHIPS, GENERAL PARTNERSHIPS

I have a sole proprietorship in British Columbia. Can I register it in Alberta?

Currently there are no requirements to register extraprovincially sole proprietorships or general partnerships in another jurisdiction in order to do business in another jurisdiction. However, you are required to obtain the necessary licences and permits as required by local governments in their jurisdictions.

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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS FOR AN ALBERTA COMPANY CONDUCTING BUSINESS IN BRITISH COLUMBIA

Do I still need to register my Alberta corporation as an extraprovincial company in British Columbia?

Yes.  The British Columbia Business Corporations Act requires an Alberta corporation to register as an extraprovincial company within two months after it begins to carry on business in British Columbia.

Do I need to file any documents with BC Registry Services if I am an Alberta corporation doing business in British Columbia as a Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement company?  What about the filing of annual reports?

All records and information needed to register and update an Alberta corporation in British Columbia will be facilitated by the Alberta Registry and/or its service providers.

Once the Alberta corporation’s name is approved for use in British Columbia, the corporation will only need to provide the name and addresses of the attorney in British Columbia and the addresses of its head office. This information will be sent to BC Registry Services by the Alberta Registry on behalf of the Alberta corporation and BC Registry Services will issue the corporation a Certificate of Registration. 

Once the Alberta corporation is registered in British Columbia it must keep the information on the register up to date by advising the Alberta Registry of any changes.  The Alberta Registry will send this information to BC Registry Services to file. 

The requirement to file an annual report in both British Columbia and Alberta has been eliminated.

How long will it take to do an extraprovincial registration of an Alberta company in British Columbia?  

BC Registry Services receives registration information from Alberta once a day.  filed the registration form promptly, and issues the certificate and other confirmations on the following business day.