Business Name Inquiry and Pre-Search

Of course. Our agency has direct access to the federal name database and provincial government name database. All reports are valid and can be verified with Industry Canada.

Generally, a name should have two elements: distinctive and descriptive. The distinctive element is the most important factor; this part can't just describe the business but must be unique or made up words. The descriptive element can be common words that describes the nature of business. An example: "Best Car Wash". This name lacks of distinctiveness, it only describes the business. A better name could have been "Mike's Car Wash". In this name 'Mike' is the distinctive/unique element, and 'Car Wash' is the descriptive element.

Feel free to call us at 416-628-9349 during our business hours (9:00 AM to 7:00 PM EST). Or you can initiate a live chat with us in the bottom right corner.

Businessess Ontario is an agent of Industry Canada. If you advise us to reserve the name, we review the name with three filters, i.e. availability, eligibility with name rules and legality with prohibited names, and then submit to the government. With these three filters, if we find your proposed name is not qualified, we will request you for alternative names by email, up to 3 names at free of cost.

You will receive NUANS (name reservation report) as fast as in 2 business hours, if you have selected such in the previous page. If you want to use this report to register or incorporate your business, you will also receive a link where you register or incorporate your business.

It's based on your selection of government's processing queue. We submit to government to reserve the name as fast as in 2 business hours of receiving the order. Please note, the processing queue and time in this page is an approximation provided by government.

If your purpose is to use this name to incorporate (limited liability company), choose any one of the legal suffix. All of them have the same legal meaning, choice is for appearance purpose only. If your purpose is to use this name for sole proprietorship or master business license or trade name/business name registration or non-profit organization, choose the option "none".

Only one or two major activities should be sufficient. The description could be very brief (in a single line).