Incorporation creates a corporation; a business licence or permit authorizes a specified activity under its own rules. Your requirements depend on the activity and location, including municipal requirements.
Describe the actual operations
Write down what will be sold or done, the location, premises, equipment and relevant services. A registry’s active status does not establish compliance with zoning, professional licensing or industry permits.
BizPaL helps identify permits and licences from participating governments. Review the results and contact the issuing authority where eligibility or an exemption is uncertain. Use the municipality’s own resources for location-specific questions.
Verify the permission relevant to the transaction
Before hiring a regulated provider, confirm the legal entity and the licence issued by the responsible regulator. Check whether the licence relates to the activity, location and date you need.
Keep permit renewal dates separate from incorporation anniversaries and tax deadlines. If the business changes premises or adds a new activity, revisit the requirements instead of assuming an existing permit covers the change.
Check the proposed premises before making commitments
Describe the planned activity and proposed address before relying on an incorporation certificate to organize opening day. As a local example, Toronto’s business-starting guidance recommends checking whether the contemplated use is permitted before leasing or buying premises. That is a location question, separate from whether a corporation has been created.
Use the municipality responsible for the actual premises rather than assuming a rule from a neighbouring city applies. If you have not chosen an address, keep the location-dependent questions open in your plan. This is more useful than marking every permission complete as soon as incorporation is finished.
Turn permit discovery into a follow-up list
BizPaL builds a tailored list from the business information supplied and links to issuing-government resources. For each relevant result, record the issuer, activity, location, next action and any renewal date confirmed by that authority. Keep unanswered eligibility questions in the same list. A search result is the starting point for following the issuer’s process, rather than evidence that a permit has been granted.
Example
Illustrative scenario: a new company plans a workshop
Suppose a newly incorporated business wants to rent space for a workshop. First describe what happens on site and ask the municipality about that proposed use. Then run the appropriate BizPaL search and follow up with the listed issuers. Keep the incorporation record in one folder and the premises/permit evidence in another. This example does not assert that any particular permit is required for an unspecified workshop.
| Workstream | Useful record |
|---|---|
| Corporate creation and registry identity | Incorporation document and registry identifier |
| Location and activity permissions | Issuer guidance, application and issued authorization where applicable |
Sources and review
Content updated October 30, 2026. Source checked October 30, 2026. Examples illustrate the process; they do not describe a real corporation.