A company cannot be incorporated in Canada anywhere without providing a Nuans name search report or a similar name search. This is frequently the case when registering a sole proprietorship, partnership or business name as well.
A preliminary name search is a pre-check of a proposed company name, business name or sole proprietorship name before you order your full Nuans name search report or other similar name search. Having a preliminary name search done prior to ordering a full search can save money in the long run.
Prior to registering your business, the appropriate government office handling name clearances will review the name search to make sure there are no names on the report which could be considered a problem. The government in the federal jurisdiction will refuse to register a name that sounds the same as a name that is on record.
When you order a Nuans Name Search or name search report with a search house normally the search house will do a preliminary name search as part of the service. You should ask this in advance or confirm this on the website of the search house. You should not have to pay for both a preliminary and a full name search separately. The only time a preliminary name search should be paid for separately is if you are registering a business name, proprietorship or partnership and the province or territory in which you register does not require a full name search. More about that below.
There is no guarantee that a name is going to be accepted by a government just because you have a name search report for that proposed name. If a preliminary name search is not part of the service of the search house when you order a Nuans name search or similar search report then you should look for another search house. A Nuans search house has the ability to order a Nuans report without a pre-check of the name but a fully trained search house would never do so without a preliminary check of the name just to try and rule out any advance conflicts.
Look at it this way. A person wants to register a business called Morgan Cement Services Incorporated. The search company tells the person that there is no exact match because they do not have a policy of pre-checking names. There is actually a company registered called Morgan Cement Services Ltd. This person decides to register his business called Morgan Cement Services Incorporated and the owner of Morgan Cement Services Ltd. sees his flyers in the neighbourhood. Mr. Morgan of Morgan Cement Services Ltd. has had his business for many years and has built up a great reputation. Mr. Morgans reputation and longevity in the business gives him the ability to go court and request the court to get this person to change the name of his corporation. If you consider it, it would not be in your best interest either to have a name that is similar to another registered name.
The search house will provide the Nuans name search report or similar name search report to you by email and you should take some time to review the report to ensure for yourself that the name you wish to use is not too similar to another name already registered.
You can incorporate a company in Ontario that is different in any way. Considering the above example, the only difference is the ending of the name. Therefore it would be accepted. On the other hand if you were dealing with the federal government it would never be accepted for registration.
If you are registering a business in Alberta, Ontario and possibly some of the other provinces or territories in Canada, you do not need a name search in order to register your name. The government does not as a practice pre-check these types of names and therefore it is your responsibility to make sure you do not have a name similar to another name. You could still be taken to court if you do not ensure your name is different than others. Actually the corporate governments in Ontario and Alberta allow for business names to be registered that are exactly alike.
In this instance you would purchase a preliminary name search. To summarize when it is not a government requirement to provide a name search report (or Nuans) upon registering a sole proprietorship, partnership or business name a preliminary name search should be performed in advance of registering. You should also be aware that many search houses will provide you with a free preliminary name search if you purchase the registration of a sole proprietorship, business name or partnership with them in cases where a name search is not needed. If you are not clear on the websites policy, contact them and ask.
Resources for Canadian Business Owners provides information about legal and government services for Canadian businesses as well as further information to Register Company Name.
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