You are starting a business in Quebec. Before your first invoice, three bodies are waiting for you: the Registraire des entreprises, for the registration and the NEQ; Revenu Québec, for the GST and the QST; the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), for the federal business number. Depending on your situation, the CNESST joins in when you hire, and the MAPAQ if you prepare or sell food. This guide gives the steps and fees as the official sites stated them on November 11, 2026.
Sole proprietorship or corporation?
The legal form changes the registration, the fees and the returns. Our post Self-employed or incorporated in Quebec compares the tax side; here is the register side.
| Sole proprietorship | Quebec business corporation | |
|---|---|---|
| Registration | Required within 60 days after starting operations if the business name does not include your family name and first name; optional under your own name | Automatic: the Registraire registers it when it constitutes it |
| The name | Your name and first name, or another name declared in the register, in French | A French name that cannot be confused with another business’s name, or a numbered name (a number, “Québec” and “inc.”) |
| Start-up fee (regular rate) | $41, the registration declaration | $397, the certificate of constitution (optional name reservation: $27) |
| Annual updating declaration, annual fee included | $41, from January 1 to June 15 | $106, from May 15 to November 15 |
| NEQ | Starts with 22; assigned to the person, not the business | Assigned at constitution |
| Income tax returns | Business income goes on your personal income tax return (the TP-1 in Quebec) | The corporation files its own: the CO-17 in Quebec, the T2 federally |
Priority processing costs more: $61.50 to register a sole proprietorship, $595.50 to constitute a corporation. Two cases differ from the table: retail sale of tobacco products and tanning salons must register even under the person’s own name, within 30 days after starting operations. General and limited partnerships formed in Quebec must also register, and a corporation constituted elsewhere (federally or in another province) registers in Quebec if it has its domicile there or carries on an activity there.
The steps on the Registraire des entreprises site
For a sole proprietorship:
- Choose the name. It must comply with the Charter of the French language, so it must be in French, and it must not be confused with another business’s name. Under your family name and first name, registration is optional.
- Fill in the declaration online: the service « Produire la déclaration d’immatriculation d’une personne physique » (registration declaration of a natural person).
- Pay $41 ($61.50 for priority processing): by card at the acknowledgement of receipt, by cheque or money order with the payment slip, or at a Services Québec counter. The payment must reach the Registraire no later than 10 business days after you send the application, which is processed only once the payment is received.
- Get your NEQ: it is assigned when the payment is confirmed.
- Keep the register up to date: a current updating declaration is free of charge, and the annual updating declaration starts the year after registration.
A business corporation is constituted with the service « Produire des statuts de constitution » (articles of constitution): check the name (the reservation is optional and lasts 90 days), file the articles, then the initial declaration — within 48 hours if it goes with the articles, or within 60 days if the articles go with the notice of the head office and directors. Filed on time, the initial declaration is free.
A business that fails to file two annual updating declarations in a row may be struck off the register; for a Quebec business corporation, being struck off means its dissolution. A late declaration costs a penalty of 50% of the annual fee. You can combine it with your income tax return by ticking the box provided: line 436 of the TP-1, line 39 of the CO-17.
Everything in one place: the Démarrer une entreprise service
The Government of Quebec offers the online service Démarrer une entreprise (in French), which goes, in order, through: a temporary authentication, the registration in the register, the registration with Revenu Québec, the permanent clicSÉQUR – Entreprises authentication, the activation of your business zone, then the list of other obligations that apply to your sector of activity. It covers sole proprietorships, partnerships whose partners are natural persons and business corporations that are neither registered nor enrolled with Revenu Québec; you must be 14 or older.
The NEQ
The Quebec enterprise number (NEQ) has 10 digits. The Registraire assigns it to every registered business, and it is required to do business in Quebec, with exceptions — including a person operating under their own name without registering. A natural person never has more than one. Do not confuse it with the CRA business number (BN), which has 9 digits: they are two separate numbers, and one does not give you the other.
Your tax numbers: GST and QST
In Quebec, the GST/HST is administered by Revenu Québec: a business located in Quebec registers for the GST and files its returns with Revenu Québec, using its forms. The QST, Quebec’s sales tax, is handled in the same place. The threshold is $30,000 of taxable supplies, yours and your associates’:
- you do not exceed $30,000 over four consecutive calendar quarters: you are a small supplier and registration is optional — you may register voluntarily;
- you exceed $30,000 in a single calendar quarter: you must register, and the tax applies from the supply that made you exceed the threshold;
- you exceed $30,000 over the previous four calendar quarters, but not in a single one: you stop being a small supplier at the end of the month after the quarter in which you exceeded it, and you must register.
Our GST/QST registration threshold tool runs the numbers and gives the deadline to register. Once registered, your GST and QST numbers go on every invoice: the invoice template for Quebec adds them, and our guide How to invoice your first clients covers the rest.
The CRA business number
The CRA assigns a 9-digit business number (BN), to which program accounts are added: 2 letters and 4 digits, such as RP for payroll deductions or RC for corporation income tax. You need one if you incorporate or if you open a CRA program account; a sole proprietorship needs one only for such an account. In Quebec, you do not receive it with the province: you register separately with the CRA, online, through Business Registration Online. That service does not open a GST/HST account for a Quebec business: that is Revenu Québec’s role.
Every incorporated business, federal or provincial, files a T2 return with the CRA each year; in Quebec, it also files the CO-17 with Revenu Québec.
You are hiring: payroll and the CNESST
The first employee adds registrations. With the CRA, a payroll deductions (RP) account. With Revenu Québec, source deductions and employer contributions: our guide Quebec payroll and source deductions details them.
With the CNESST, registration is required as soon as you hire at least one worker, full-time or part-time, with an establishment in Quebec. You have 60 days from their first day of work, and you can register up to 30 days before they start; after the 60 days, late registration fees apply. Without employees, a self-employed worker is not automatically covered for a work accident: they can apply for personal coverage, which is optional. The guide Hiring your first employee in Quebec takes it from there.
Food business: the MAPAQ permit
- Restaurants, food retail and most food preparation need a food permit from the ministère de l’Agriculture, des Pêcheries et de l’Alimentation (MAPAQ), even if you sell online. Preparing meals in your home kitchen also requires the restaurant permit.
- You must receive the permit before you start and display it where customers can see it; it is valid for one year. Processing an application takes 2 to 6 weeks.
- Take the food hygiene and safety training.
- Before applying, check with your municipality that running a food business is allowed at the location you chose.
Operating without a permit exposes you to a minimum fine of $5,000. Other sectors have their own authorizations: the Démarrer une entreprise service lists them based on the sector of activity you enter.
What InnoBooks does, and what it does not
InnoBooks does not register your business and does not enrol you anywhere: those steps are done with the Registraire, Revenu Québec, the CRA and the CNESST. Once you have your GST and QST numbers, enter them in InnoBooks and every invoice carries them, with the taxes calculated. The free plan lets you start invoicing without a credit card.
The start-up checklist
- Choose the legal form: sole proprietorship or business corporation.
- Choose a name in French.
- Sole proprietorship under a name other than your own: register it within 60 days after starting operations ($41) — within 30 days, even under your own name, for tobacco retail or tanning. Business corporation: constitute it ($397). The Démarrer une entreprise service does the registration and the Revenu Québec enrolment in one go.
- Register for the GST and QST with Revenu Québec as soon as your taxable supplies exceed $30,000 in a single calendar quarter or over four consecutive calendar quarters, or voluntarily before.
- Get a CRA business number if you incorporate or open a program account, such as the payroll account.
- First employee: payroll account with the CRA, source deductions with Revenu Québec, CNESST within 60 days after their first day of work.
- Food business: the municipal check, then the MAPAQ permit before you open.
- Every year: the annual updating declaration in the register.
Sources
Read on November 11, 2026:
- Registraire des entreprises, Immatriculer une personne physique exploitant une entreprise individuelle (in French)
- Registraire des entreprises, About the Registration of an Enterprise
- Registraire des entreprises, fees for a sole proprietorship and for a business corporation (in French)
- Registraire des entreprises, Constituer une société par actions québécoise (in French)
- Registraire des entreprises, File an Annual Updating Declaration in the Enterprise Register
- Registraire des entreprises, Québec Enterprise Number (NEQ) and Definition and Rules Applicable to the Name of an Enterprise
- Government of Quebec, Service Démarrer une entreprise (in French)
- Canada Revenue Agency, Register as a resident with a Canadian business, When you need a BN, When to register for and start charging the GST/HST and Corporation income tax program account
- CNESST, S’inscrire à la CNESST (in French) and Self-employed workers
- MAPAQ, Permis pour préparation d’aliments, restauration ou vente au détail and Aide pour les permis alimentaires (in French)
This guide summarizes the rules and fees; they change, and the pages of the Registraire, Revenu Québec, the CRA, the CNESST and the MAPAQ are the authority.