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Before you can incorporate a company in Canada, no matter what province or territory you live in, you will be required to provide some form of name search and as well, you might also be required to provide a name search to register a proprietorship, business name or a partnership.

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.

If you place an order with a search house for a Nuans name search report or similar report a preliminary name search is normally done as part of that fee. Determine in advance before ordering your name search that the preliminary name search is part of the service. A full Nuans name search must not be provided without first having a preliminary name search performed. There is was exception to this rule. If you are registering a partnership, sole proprietorship or business name and the province or territory does not require a name search then in that case you should pay separately for a preliminary name search to be done before you register your business name. I will go into this further below.

Having a Nuans name search in hand does not mean your name is going to be accepted. You should never receive a full Nuans name search report or similar name search without first having a preliminary name search performed. If the search house says this is not part of its service then you should look for another one. Any search house can order a Nuans name search but a qualified search house will pre-check the name for you to make sure you have a better chance of having your name accepted by the particular Canadian government without charging you an additional fee.

Consider it this way. You decide you want to register the name John’s House Cleaning Business Inc. There is no exact match but there is a registration for John’s Housecleaning Business Ltd. The search house you use does not tell you about John’s Housecleaning Business Ltd. because they do not pre-clear the name. You register your business and John of John’s Housecleaning Business Ltd. finds out about you. He has established himself in the same area where you live and is well known to the public for 20 or more years. He considers your business name as a conflict and he could take you to court and try to force you to change your company name because it is a conflict to him. Depending on how well he is established or the conflicts that arise after you start using your name, you could be requested by court order to change your business name. Can you imagine how much trouble that could be for you? Would you want to have a name that was that close to another business anyway? It would be a conflict for you as well.

When you receive a full name search report or Nuans report you can review the report yourself and should be able to tell if there is a name that is too similar to the name you wish to register. This would be another good idea just to be sure.

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.

To register a business name, partnership name or sole proprietorship name in the provinces of Alberta or Ontario, and maybe in some of the other provinces and territories as well, you will not need a name search (Nuans report) to register. The governments in Alberta and Ontario do not check names prior to registering business names. The person registering the name must ensure themselves that the name is not already taken since they could still be taken to court if they pick a name that conflicts with another. As well, the Ontario government and the Alberta government will allow you to register a business name which is exactly the same as another business name already registered.

In a situation such as this you would want to purchase a preliminary name search. To conclude, in a case where you are registering a partnership, business name or sole proprietorship and a name search is not necessary you should purchase a preliminary name search. As a matter of fact, a lot of searches houses will check your name for free prior to registering a business name or a sole proprietorship or a partnership. If you are unclear about the website you are dealing with contact them. I am sure they would be glad to advise what their policy is.

Resources for Canadian Business Owners provides information about legal and government services for Canadian businesses as well as further information about a Trade Name Search Alberta.