Investors who want to open a company in Canada will need to comply with numerous legal requirements for their newly-founded company, and this also refers to the nominee director and the resident director of the legal entity. The legal requirements imposed on companies in Canada vary depending on the Canadian jurisdiction where the company is set up.
If you need assistance on the obligations of the nominee and resident director in Canada, we invite you to address to our team of consultants. Our team of Canadian company formation specialists can help you register a company in any of the Canadian jurisdictions and can offer you full advice on how to appoint directors.
The nominee and resident director in Canada are persons who have as a main responsibility supervising the activities of the company, with the purpose of taking the most suitable decisions that are in the best interest of the company. As a general rule, a company in Canada must have at least one director, but the minimum number of directors, including for the nominee director in Canada, can be influenced by the legal entity under which the company will operate.
However, the number of directors is not fixed, as it can be modified by amending the company’s statutory documents. If this applies, then the company must reflect the new modifications with the official institutions, according to the Government of Canada. With regards to the minimum requirements a Canadian director should meet, we mention the following:
The obligation to have a board of directors with at least 25% Canadian residency was imposed on the following Canadian jurisdictions: Federal Canada, Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Newfoundland; however, the law that entered into force starting with July 2021 eliminated the residency requirements for the directors of Canadian companies that are registered in the province of Ontario; for all other Canadian provinces, the residency requirements still apply. Our team of consultants in Canadian company formation can present more details on this aspect if you want to invest in any of these regions, but you can rely on our team if you need information on how to start a business in other Canadian regions, such as Quebec or Nova Scotia.
A nominee director in Canada is a person that is appointed to act as the director (or one of the directors) of the company by one of the company’s shareholders. The nominee director in Canada can be one of the company’s employees as well. It must be noted that even if the nominee director is appointed by one of the shareholders, the director has fiduciary obligations towards the entire shareholding structure of the company, and not the person who has made the nomination. As a general rule, some of the main attributions of the nominee director in Canada are the following:
If you need more information on how to appoint a nominee director in Canada, please contact our team. Our consultants in company registration in Canada can help you in the process of appointing resident directors and can offer more details on the management structure of a Canadian company.
Please mind that start-up businesses can easily participate in the Intra Company Transfer in Canada. There are many requirements to comply with and start-ups must also provide evidence of having a business office here.
Qualifying companies will obtain a 1 year temporary residence permit for their employees, which can be renewed if the business maintains the criteria imposed for this program.