New online registry takes burden of paperwork, long waits off businesses, not-for-profits

The Ontario government has announced it is launching the new Ontario Business Registry, designed to make it easier and more affordable for businesses and not-for-profit corporations to access government services.

Sault MPP and Minister of Government and Consumer Services Ross Romano was joined by Nina Tangri, Associate Minister of Small Business and Red Tape Reduction at Toronto’s Central YMCA for Tuesday’s announcement.

The new Ontario Business Registry provides business owners and not-for-profit operators with direct access to government services, available online 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. 

“Today marks the day that we leave behind an archaic and 30-year-old cumbersome, paper based and manually processed system to usher in a new and modern digital transformation era with the launch of the new Ontario Business Registry,” Romano said.

The government states the new registry will support businesses and not-for-profit corporations at every stage of their lifecycle -whether starting, maintaining or dissolving - with quick and easy access to over 90 transactions online.

“This is going to reduce paperwork, save time and break down barriers. The new business registry is an incredible transformation to the way that more than two-and-a-half million not-for-profit corporations and businesses throughout our province interact with their government...it will allow them to complete electronic transactions immediately as opposed to having to wait, sometimes months, when completing transactions by fax or mail,” Romano said.

The new business registry was up and running Tuesday morning, Romano said, replacing an old system that was put in place in 1992.

The Sault MPP said he remembered 1992 as a time when the internet was in its dial up infancy and when cellular phones were primitive and much larger in size, also making references to the TV show Miami Vice.

“To think that up until today all not-for-profit corporations and businesses would only be able to interact with their government from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. from Monday to Friday. They would have to submit documents by mail, fax and wait months for a response. Those days are over. As of this morning, transactions of this nature are available online 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year and you can access them all from the comfort of your smartphone wherever, whenever you want, at any time. A simple registration or filing that used to take up to two months can now be done instantly through the Ontario Business Registry,” Romano said.

“This means that volunteers at a small organization, a small community charitable organization in my hometown of Sault Ste. Marie don’t have to waste their valuable time and resources on cumbersome paperwork, and instead they can just focus their efforts on the direct community supports they volunteered to provide.”    

Annual returns can also be completed through the registry, meaning corporations can keep all their important filings in one place. The new registry is also integrated with the Canada Revenue Agency, meaning a business or not-for-profit corporation can be identified by a single business number, further streamlining the administrative process.

The Ontario Business Registry is seen by the government as an important step forward for small businesses in Ontario. 

“Modernizing government services will reduce unnecessary burdens and help to accelerate business growth across the province,” said Minister Tangri. 

After years of waiting, Ontario’s Not-for-Profit Corporations Act, 2010 came into effect Tuesday along with the ushering in of the new business registry.

“The Not-for-Profit Corporations Act, 2010 received Royal Assent on October 25, 2010 but could not be brought into force until the Ontario Business Registry launched,” a government release states.

“Direct access to the Ontario Business Registry will expand in the future to intermediaries such as legal professionals, accountants, and search firms. Feedback sessions are underway to support future alignment and intermediary use of the Ontario Business Registry,” the release states.

The province says not-for-profit corporations will now be able to access an online government system that eliminates duplication of paperwork and give them features like pre-defined text that will support their operations, helping users submit information error-free and reducing legal costs.