You can register online, by phone, or by mail. If
you don't already have a business number (BN), you will have to register
for one.
To register online, see the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA)
Business
Registration Online page. The online registration process asks
for your personal information first, including your social insurance
number, even though you may be registering a corporation. You will
be asked if the business already has a business number. If it does
not, you will go through the process of registering for a business number
first.
You can register by phone for a business number or for
CRA accounts (GST, income tax, payroll, etc.) by calling CRA at
1-800-959-5525.
To register by phone, call Revenu Quebec at 1-800-567-4692.
Effective Date of Registration
The effective date of registration depends on whether your registration is
voluntary or mandatory.
If you charge GST/HST on your taxable sales before you register, your effective
date of registration will usually be the date you first charged GST/HST.
However, if this was more than 30 days before you register, call CRA for special
instructions.
Otherwise, the effective date of registration will depend on the type of
registration:
GST/HST Voluntary
Registrations (e.g. small suppliers)
The effective date is normally the date that you apply for registration.
You can also request a future date as the effective date and this will usually
be accepted if the date is within 30 days of the date of the application for
registration. You may want to
register on a voluntary basis in order to receive input tax credits for GST/HST
that you have paid.
GST/HST Mandatory
Registrations
The effective date of registration is the date:
you provide taxable, including zero-rated, goods or services in
Canada in the course of carrying on business in Canada, and
your revenues exceed the small supplier
threshold of $30,000 ($50,000 for charities or public service bodies)
in a single calendar quarter - in this case you must
charge the GST/HST on the supply that made you exceed $30,000, and
register within 29 days from the day you cease to be a small supplier.
you provide taxable, including zero-rated, goods or services in
Canada in the course of carrying on business in Canada, and
your revenues exceed the small supplier
threshold of $30,000 ($50,000 for charities or public service bodies) in
four consecutive calendar quarters - in this case you
must charge the GST/HST at the beginning of the month after which you
cease to be a small supplier, and register within 29 days after you make
a sale other than as a small supplier;
you begin to operate a taxi or limousine service; or
you, as a non-resident, charge admission directly to audiences in
Canada.