CRA Business Number After Incorporating: What's Automatic

Steps to get your business number and CRA program accounts

1. Incorporate. Your BN and corporation income tax account are assigned automatically as part of incorporating in Alberta, Ontario, or federally; there is nothing extra to file for these two items.
2. Watch for your confirmation. Where it comes from depends on where you incorporated (Ontario vs. Alberta differ; see below).
3. Identify which other CRA program accounts your business needs (GST/HST, payroll, import/export) based on your actual activities.
4. Register for those additional accounts, generally through Business Registration Online (BRO), or by paper Form RC1 if you cannot use BRO.
5. Handle import/export separately, since that account now runs through the CBSA rather than CRA.

Your BN and corporation income tax account arrive automatically

When you incorporate in Alberta, Ontario, or federally, your business is automatically assigned a Business Number (BN) and a corporation income tax program account, no separate CRA application is required for either one. This is a federal rule that applies the same way regardless of which of these three jurisdictions you incorporate in.

Federally incorporated businesses receive their articles of incorporation, federal BN, and federal corporation income tax program account together, with the option to add other federal tax accounts such as GST/HST, payroll, or import/export at the same time.

Where your confirmation comes from: Ontario vs. Alberta

The two items above are automatic everywhere, but how you find out your BN differs by where you incorporated.

In Alberta, the BN is issued as part of the Common Business Number program, a partnership that lets the provincial corporate registry assign the federal 9-digit number directly during incorporation.

Deciding which other CRA program accounts you need

The BN and corporation income tax account cover only two things. Beyond that, your business must separately register for any other CRA program account its activities require, such as GST/HST or payroll deductions. Each program account has its own registration and reporting rules, so registering for one does not automatically register you for another.

Common accounts founders add after incorporating:

• GST/HST, once you’re required or choose to collect it
• Payroll, once you have employees (including yourself, if you take a salary)
• Import/export, if you bring goods across the border commercially

Registering additional accounts online through BRO

As of November 3, 2025, all new BN and CRA program account registrations must go through Business Registration Online (BRO); CRA no longer processes new registrations by phone. BRO lets you create a new BN, add program accounts to an existing BN, or register for accounts like GST/HST and payroll in one online session.

Since July 14, 2026, BRO is only accessible through a CRA account. To use it, you sign in with your CRA credentials, a Sign-In Partner (such as your bank), or a provincial partner (an option available in Alberta and British Columbia). Once signed in, you add a business account from the welcome page and select “Register a business.” If you don’t yet have a CRA account, you must register for one first; CRA’s Document verification service gives full access immediately, without waiting for a mailed security code.

Registering through BRO gives you instant confirmation: your BN and account details appear immediately on screen, and CRA does not mail a separate confirmation afterward.

Paper Form RC1, Request for a Business Number and Certain Program Accounts, remains available only in specific situations: owners who have never filed taxes (for example, newcomers to Canada), have not filed in the last two years, or cannot meet the CRA account registration requirements. BRO also cannot be used for certain registrations: reactivating a closed program account, registering a business owned by another business, registering where an owner or director is deceased, or registering a Canadian business with only non-resident owners. Alberta and British Columbia residents can still register through the provincial-partner route even if they have never filed taxes.

Import/export accounts now go through CBSA, not CRA

If your business needs an import/export program account (previously called an RM account and registered through CRA), that has changed. Since October 21, 2024, registering for or updating an import/export account is done through the CBSA’s CARM Client Portal (CBSA Assessment and Revenue Management) instead of through CRA.

One BN per corporation, no matter how many locations

A single legal entity, including a corporation, is assigned only one BN under CRA’s “one legal entity, one BN” policy. This holds regardless of how many storefronts, divisions, or lines of business the corporation operates; you add program accounts under the same BN rather than obtaining a new number for each one.