Fix an inactive business status when opening a business account

Overview

An inactive status means your business isn’t currently in good standing with your provincial or territorial business registry. It’s usually caused by a missed filing or a lapsed registration, and it’s often quick to fix.

When you open a business account for a corporation or a registered sole proprietorship, we check your business’s status with the registry. Unregistered sole proprietorships, including all sole proprietorships in Newfoundland and Labrador, don’t go through a registry check, so they can’t get an inactive status.

Why this happens

Corporations

The most common reason is a missed filing. You might not realize that filing a tax return with the CRA and staying in good standing with your registry are two separate things.

• The CRA handles your corporate income tax return.
• Your provincial or territorial registry requires a separate filing, often called an Annual Return, to keep your corporation active.

Even if you’ve filed your taxes on time, your registry can still mark your corporation inactive if you haven’t submitted your Annual Return (or equivalent filing). This is easy to miss, since not every registry sends a reminder.

Registered sole proprietorships

In some provinces and territories, a sole proprietorship or business name registration expires after a set period and has to be renewed. If you didn’t renew your registration in time, the registry may show it as inactive. Renewal rules and timelines vary by province and territory.

How to fix it

To bring your business back into good standing, contact the registry where your business is incorporated or registered:

• Corporations: File any outstanding Annual Returns (or equivalent filings).
• Registered sole proprietorships: Renew your registration.

Since requirements and processes vary by province and territory, the best next step is to go directly to your registry’s website.

Once you’ve updated your registry, it can take a few hours for your new status to show, depending on your provincial or territorial registry.

Coming back to finish your application

Once your business is active again, come back to Wealthsimple and pick up where you left off in the Wealthsimple app or on web:

When you continue, we’ll re-check your business’s status with the registry. If it comes back active, you can finish opening your account right away.