Am I allowed to incorporate an Ontario business as an international student?

[tacman]

Hi Everyone,

I have a study permit. I know that temporary residents can incorporate an Ontario business, but I am not sure if there is any limitation for this under the study permit. I won’t be working full-time on this business, I’ll just be the owner and the director.

I couldn’t find the information anywhere online and it’s impossible to reach the IRCC call center.

Does anyone with the information?

 

[hellosudheer]

Yes, you can. Get in touch with a good Tax consultant, he will help you.

Hi Everyone,

I have a study permit. I know that temporary residents can incorporate an Ontario business, but I am not sure if there is any limitation for this under the study permit. I won’t be working full-time on this business, I’ll just be the owner and the director.

I couldn’t find the information anywhere online and it’s impossible to reach the IRCC call center.

Does anyone with the information?

 

[RS20201]

Hi Everyone,

I have a study permit. I know that temporary residents can incorporate an Ontario business, but I am not sure if there is any limitation for this under the study permit. I won’t be working full-time on this business, I’ll just be the owner and the director.

I couldn’t find the information anywhere online and it’s impossible to reach the IRCC call center.

Does anyone with the information?

Hi, I am in a similar situation. Please guide whether you incorporated your business while on a study permit?

 

[Bob Black]

I am also interested in this question. Were you able to do it or not? And how are you doing with the registration in detail? I'm planning to start a small business. When registering, do I need to specify the name of my company or only need to register myself as the owner of this or that business. Well, like I'm the owner of the store at this address and the store itself, for example, will not be named. Because I have long thought of a name for their business and can not come up with anything yet. And it may turn out that already need to submit documents and I have not yet decided on the name. If you are aware of this, I would be very grateful for your help.

 

[RS20201]

Hi Bob, nice to hear from a fellow student in a similar boat. Here's what I found/ researched:

• I spoke with a CRA agent @ their helpline 1800-959-5525. He was okay with the sole-proprietorship.
• They arranged for a call-back to my number and the officer confirmed that I can setup an incorporation as well but will need to abide by my study permit conditions.
• I referred the temp public policy allowing international students to work for 20+ hours, and they were fine with it.
• I also checked with a reputed lawyer/ tax accounting firm and they confirmed that a temp SIN holder (study/ work permit) is allowed to incorporate, get a CRA Business number, apply for HST/ GST and payroll formalities. However the temp SIN restricts the business owner's full access to MyCRA account. (Refer this CRA Link)
• Although your tax accountant/ CPA can have full access to the MyCRA for you.

Conclusion: I opened a proprietorship using OWNR by paying only ~$52. I am also going ahead with Incorporation. However, since I still have a temp SIN, the incorporation will be registered via the lawyer (cost ~ 2-3K) and not via Ownr (~1K).

Naming the sole-prop/ Incorporation: I did not have to pay anything to choose a name for my sole-prop. I gave a generic name to the sole-prop in order to keep it separate from my "international" name. For the incorporation, I am going ahead with a numbered company. Do note that even if you have a numbered company, the banks here allow you to have a trading name (also known as DBA - Doing Business As)

Hope it addresses your questions.

Happy Side-gigging.

P.S.: If you need a $50 referral discount code for Ownr, let me know. I can refer you for the same.

 

[Bob Black]

Thank you very much for your reply. The information was really useful to me. I think that I still have to come up with a decent name for my future company and only then proceed to registration. I think I'll have to use a company name generator. To speed up the process. It will not cause any questions. I don't want to then try to rename the company or worse, close this one and start a new one. But thank you so much for your help. I think I'll be in touch with you very soon. Since you know about it, it will be easier for me. Especially since you are talking about such a small expense. I thought it would be many times more. I am pleasantly surprised by this information.

 

[MiguelDawson]

Hi Bob, nice to hear from a fellow student in a similar boat. Here's what I found/ researched:

• I spoke with a CRA agent @ their helpline 1800-959-5525. He was okay with the sole-proprietorship.
• They arranged for a call-back to my number and the officer confirmed that I can setup an incorporation as well but will need to abide by my study permit conditions.
• I referred the temp public policy allowing international students to work for 20+ hours, and they were fine with it.
• I also checked with a reputed lawyer/ tax accounting firm and they confirmed that a temp SIN holder (study/ work permit) is allowed to incorporate, get a CRA Business number, apply for HST/ GST and payroll formalities. However the temp SIN restricts the business owner's full access to MyCRA account. (Refer this CRA Link)
• Although your tax accountant/ CPA can have full access to the MyCRA for you.

Conclusion: I opened a proprietorship using OWNR by paying only ~$52. I am also going ahead with Incorporation. However, since I still have a temp SIN, the incorporation will be registered via the lawyer (cost ~ 2-3K) and not via Ownr (~1K).

Naming the sole-prop/ Incorporation: I did not have to pay anything to choose a name for my sole-prop. I gave a generic name to the sole-prop in order to keep it separate from my "international" name. For the incorporation, I am going ahead with a numbered company. Do note that even if you have a numbered company, the banks here allow you to have a trading name (also known as DBA - Doing Business As)

Hope it addresses your questions.

Happy Side-gigging.

P.
S.: If you need a $50 referral discount code for Ownr, let me know. I can refer you for the same.

Hey, can you check my case personally, If you allow me can I send a message to you with proper details, I am hesitating to share here. Thanks

 

[RS20201]

Hey, can you check my case personally, If you allow me can I send a message to you with proper details, I am hesitating to share here. Thanks

absolutely. Happy to help.

 

[CanadianDreamer@TO]

Hi Bob, nice to hear from a fellow student in a similar boat. Here's what I found/ researched:

• I spoke with a CRA agent @ their helpline 1800-959-5525. He was okay with the sole-proprietorship.
• They arranged for a call-back to my number and the officer confirmed that I can setup an incorporation as well but will need to abide by my study permit conditions.
• I referred the temp public policy allowing international students to work for 20+ hours, and they were fine with it.
• I also checked with a reputed lawyer/ tax accounting firm and they confirmed that a temp SIN holder (study/ work permit) is allowed to incorporate, get a CRA Business number, apply for HST/ GST and payroll formalities. However the temp SIN restricts the business owner's full access to MyCRA account. (Refer this CRA Link)
• Although your tax accountant/ CPA can have full access to the MyCRA for you.

Conclusion: I opened a proprietorship using OWNR by paying only ~$52. I am also going ahead with Incorporation. However, since I still have a temp SIN, the incorporation will be registered via the lawyer (cost ~ 2-3K) and not via Ownr (~1K).

Naming the sole-prop/ Incorporation: I did not have to pay anything to choose a name for my sole-prop. I gave a generic name to the sole-prop in order to keep it separate from my "international" name. For the incorporation, I am going ahead with a numbered company. Do note that even if you have a numbered company, the banks here allow you to have a trading name (also known as DBA - Doing Business As)

Hope it addresses your questions.

Happy Side-gigging.

P.S.: If you need a $50 referral discount code for Ownr, let me know. I can refer you for the same.

I need the $50 referral discount code for Ownr, Can you send as you said above?