Read this Before you Order your Ontario Nuans Name Search Report

The Nuans Name System generates an Ontario Nuans Name Search Report. This system will check your proposed company name against all company names registered across Canada. You must have an Ontario Nuans Name Search Report in order to incorporate an Ontario company. The report lets the government check your proposed name against the report to ensure there is no other company that has the exact same name as yours registered already. No two companies can have the same name.

If you are registering an Ontario business name or an Ontario trade name (also called an Ontario sole proprietorship) or an Ontario partnership you will not be required to obtain an Ontario Nuans Name Search Report. There is no protection for these names in Ontario. However it is advisable to at least do a preliminary name search regardless. A preliminary name search will give you an idea whether the name has been taken and what competition you have for the name.

Prior to having the Ontario Nuans name search ordered for your proposed company name a preliminary name search must be performed. This is because it would not be a good idea to just order a name search without checking to see if the name is available because once the search is ordered there is a cost. If the Nuans report shows a conflict it will be too late and you will need to order another search after you pick a different name.

Normally there is no cost for a preliminary name search when you order an Ontario Nuans Name Search Report from a search house. The search house will check your name for free because you have made this purchase. Some search houses charge for preliminary name searches as well which can make it expensive. The only time you should pay for a preliminary name search is when you are registering an Ontario sole proprietrship, Ontario trade name, Ontario partnership. This is because it is not necessary to have an Ontario Nuans report when registering these businesses but you want to ensure you have checked the name regardless. The search house will charge you money for your preliminary name search because there is a cost to them for this service.

Even though you are not required to obtain a Nuans Ontario when registering an Ontario trade name or Ontario business name, an Ontario sole proprietorship or an Ontario partnership, you should still have the name you wish to use checked. There could still be a conflict with the name and you could be requested to stop using the name if you pick a name that is well known by the public for many years. In order to safeguard against this you should do a preliminary name search on any name you are going to use as an Ontario business or trade name, Ontario sole proprietorship or Ontario partnership.

When incorporating an Ontario company you will need to have a name for your company that has a legal element (explained below) but this is not necessary for Ontario sole proprietorships, Ontario partnerships and Ontario business names. Below you will find information will explain how to pick the proper name for your company.

When deciding on a name for your corporation, you should consider three aspects of the name as follows: (1) the Distinctive Element (2) the Descriptive Element, and (3) the Legal Element.

If the name you choose to register is “Crosgrey Carpentry Inc. , the distinctive element is the word “Crosgrey”, which is distinctive because it is my last name. Another example of a distinctive element in a name might be “Grenville” as in “Grenville Garden Supplies Ltd.” which is distinctive because it describes a location. “Starcross Dental Services Corp.” has the distinctive word “Starcross” in it to make it stand out from other dental service companies. The descriptive element describes the type of business. In “Crosgrey Carpentry Inc.”, the descriptive element is “Carpentry” which describes the nature of business. In “Grenville Garden Supplies Ltd.” the descriptive element is “Garden Supplies” which describes the type of products this business sells. “Dental Services” is the descriptive element for “Starcross Dental Services Corp.”.

The Legal Element of the corporation name is the word “Inc.” which is a mandatory ending which recognizes the name as the name of a limited company. In Ontario you can have any one of the following endings on your company name: “Inc.”, “Incorporated”, “Ltd.”, “Limited”, “Corp.”, “Corporation” and the French equivalents of “Ltee.” “Limitee”, “Inc.” (same in English and French) or “Incorporee”, The Legal Element implies to the public that your company is a limited company and not a business name, proprietorship, partnership or non-share corporation.

Resources for Canadian Business Owners performs unlimited preliminary name searches with the purchase of an Ontario Name Search and will pre-check your name for free when you purchase a Ontario Sole Proprietorship