How to Register an Alberta Business Name Registration (Alberta Trade Name)
Written by Holly Crosgrey   
Sunday, 16 May 2010 07:37
The Partnership Act (Alberta) governs the registration of Alberta trade names which are also considered to be the same as Alberta sole proprietorships.
by HollyCrosgrey


The Partnership Act (Alberta) governs the registration of Alberta trade names which are also considered to be the same as Alberta sole proprietorships.

The statutes indicates that an individual who (a) is engaged in business for trading, manufacturing, contracting or mining purposes; and (2) is not associated in partnership with any other person or persons and uses as the person's business name some name or designation other than the person's own, or the person's own name with the addition of "and company" or some other word or phrase indicating a plurality of members in a firm; shall file with the Alberta Registrar a declaration in writing of the fact. If you are planning on registering a sole proprietorship it would be appropriate for you to take a look at the Alberta Partnership Act provisions for Alberta sole proprietorships.

In layman's terms what the statute is trying to say is that any individual who is operating under a name other than his or her own name must register an Alberta sole proprietorship. A sole proprietorship registration in Alberta must be filed six months from the date it commences business in Alberta.

You are not required to provide an Alberta Nuans name search report to register an Alberta Registration such as a sole proprietorship. The Partnership Act (Alberta) has no requirement for an Alberta trade name /Alberta sole proprietorship name to be unique. Any company, sole proprietorship or partnership can register the same Alberta business name at the same time. This does not mean that you should just go ahead and register any name you wish. It is important that you make all attempts to have a distinct name for an Alberta Registration that is very different from all names out there.

The best way to ensure this is to do a preliminary name search Alberta Registration Name before you register your sole proprietorship. A search house can perform this for you. Some search houses charge a small fee for this and others will do this for free when you purchase a sole proprietorship registration service from them.

An individual can conduct business as a sole proprietorship by using his or her name and not registering an actual Alberta trade name. In fact the Alberta government will not allow you to register a sole proprietorship under your personal name. In some cases though it might be advantageous to have an Alberta registration in place such as when a corporate client wishes the sole proprietorship to acknowledge he or she has a valid business registration in place or in some cases where ancillary licenses are required for the company and a Alberta registration document must be shown. The federal government does not care if you have a Alberta sole proprietorship registration in place in order to issue you a federal Business Number. The federal business number is connected to the individual rather than the Alberta trade name registration.

It is not possible for you to register a sole proprietorship on your own. The Alberta government mandates that a service provider must assist you. This is really a good thing since if you pick the right service provider they will check your name in advance for you free of charge. Look for this type of provider before you register and then you can be assured that your name is not only available in Alberta but clear right across Canada.

In order to terminate your Alberta registration it will be necessary to file a Declaration of Ceasing to Carry on Business under a Trade Name.

When you register an Alberta Trade name it will be registered forever unless you chose to terminate it.

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Resources for Canadian Business Owners can assist you with your Alberta Trade Name and Search Trade Name or Preliminary Name Search