Incorporation
Choice of regime (QBCA or CBCA), articles, share capital and the complete legal organization, NEQ and minute book included. Our Quebec incorporation page details every step.
Our corporate services
What corporate law covers here
Corporate maintenance
Annual updating declaration with the REQ, annual resolutions, ultimate beneficiaries and a minute book kept current, year after year. Two missed declarations expose the corporation to being struck off the register.
Reorganizations
Holding company, estate freeze, amalgamation, reshaped share capital: operations generally carried out on a tax-rollover basis, working as a team with your accountant or tax specialist.
Agreements and business sales
A shareholder agreement settled while everyone still gets along; letter of intent, due diligence, the share-versus-asset decision and closing documents when buying or selling a business.
Trademarks
Registration with the Canadian Intellectual Property Office: an exclusive right to use your mark across the country, generally for ten years, renewable. The best way to protect your mark.
Tax litigation
Audits, objections to a notice of assessment, appeals before the courts: representation before Revenu Québec and the CRA, in civil and penal matters alike. The golden rule: get advice as soon as the notice arrives.
Worth knowing
A litigator defends your rights once a dispute exists; a corporate lawyer works upstream, drafting the articles, resolutions and agreements that reduce the chances of a dispute arising. Our article on what corporate law covers walks through it area by area.
When to call
Four signals it is time to structure
A clean structure from day one settles most of the questions that would otherwise end up in court. These four situations come up in almost every mandate.
Signal 1
A major contract to sign
A client requires an incorporated company, or personal liability has become a real concern.
Signal 2
A partner coming on board
Share classes, ownership split and the shareholder agreement get designed before the arrival, not after the first disagreement.
Signal 3
Cash piling up
A holding company can move surplus cash away from operating risk; the structure is put in place on a tax-rollover basis.
Signal 4
A sale on the horizon
A seller whose registers are in order negotiates from strength; regularizing them just before a sale can cause significant delays.
FAQ
What is the difference between corporate law and business law?
Business law is the broad family: commercial contracts, leases, financing, employment. Corporate law is the branch aimed at the corporation itself, from its articles of incorporation to transactions involving its shares.
Do you offer your corporate services everywhere in Quebec?
Yes. Files are handled online and by video call, in English or French. The office is in Laval, but most of our mandates run remotely, from Gatineau to Gaspé.
How much do your services cost?
Several common mandates, including incorporation and trademark registration, are offered at fixed fees. Custom mandates are scoped before any work begins. Current pricing is listed on our services page.
My corporation has not filed its REQ declarations for two years. Is it too late?
In most cases, no. You do need to act quickly: after two missed annual declarations, the corporation risks being struck off the register, which dissolves the corporation until its situation is regularized. Filing the outstanding declarations normally restores the file to good standing.
Do you work with my accountant?
Yes, and it is the ideal setup. Reorganizations and tax planning are built as a team: the accountant or tax specialist sets the numbers strategy, and the firm turns it into valid resolutions, articles and agreements.