Starting a business in Canada comes with exciting milestones — choosing your name, landing your first client, opening a business bank account. But one administrative step sits behind nearly every formal interaction with the Canada Revenue Agency: obtaining a Business Number (BN). Whether you are a sole proprietor, a corporation, or a partnership, your BN is the nine-digit identifier that ties all of your CRA program accounts together. This guide walks you through what a BN is, when you need one, how to register, and what to do after you are set up — with accurate information for the 2025 tax year.
A Business Number is a unique nine-digit identifier assigned by the CRA to a business or organization. Think of it as the business equivalent of your Social Insurance Number. The BN itself does not change — it is permanent for the life of your business entity. What does change are the program accounts attached to it. Each program account has a two-letter program identifier and a four-digit reference number appended to the BN, giving a full 15-character account number.
The most common program accounts are:
You can hold multiple program accounts under one BN, keeping your CRA dealings consolidated and traceable.
Not every self-employed person needs a BN immediately, but several common situations trigger the requirement or make registration highly advisable.
CRA offers four ways to register, and the right channel depends on your situation.
The fastest option for most new businesses is the CRA's Business Registration Online portal at canada.ca. You will need a My Business Account login or a verified identity through Sign-In Partner. During the process you can register for your BN and simultaneously apply for GST/HST, payroll, or import/export accounts. For a straightforward sole proprietorship or partnership, the process typically takes under 20 minutes and your BN is issued immediately.
In Alberta and several other provinces, registering a business name or incorporating provincially is integrated with the CRA registration process through a single-window service. When you register with Service Alberta, for example, CRA is notified and issues a BN automatically. The BN is then mailed to the registered business address.
Call CRA's Business Enquiries line at 1-800-959-5525 (English) or 1-800-959-7775 (French). Have your legal business name, business address, fiscal year-end, and personal SIN ready. A CRA agent will register you and provide your BN verbally, followed by written confirmation by mail.
Complete Form RC1 (Request for a Business Number and Certain Program Accounts) and mail or fax it to your regional tax services office. This method is the slowest and is typically used only when online or phone registration is not feasible.
Regardless of the channel, have the following details on hand before you begin:
Maria leaves corporate employment in January 2025 to run a sole-proprietor bookkeeping practice in Calgary. In her first month, she lands three small-business clients generating $3,500 per month — well under the $30,000 annual threshold. She is not yet required to collect GST, but she decides to register voluntarily so she can claim ITCs on her laptop, accounting software subscriptions, and home-office costs.
She logs into Business Registration Online, verifies her identity through her CRA My Account, and within 15 minutes has a BN with an active GST/HST (RT) account. CRA assigns her a quarterly remittance frequency because her estimated annual revenue is under $1,500,000. In February she hires a part-time assistant, so she calls CRA to add a Payroll (RP) account to her existing BN. When she incorporates in July to access the small-business deduction rate on active business income, CRA issues a new BN for the corporation and automatically opens an RC (corporate income tax) account — her sole-proprietor BN remains active until she formally winds it down.
Maria's situation is common among Calgary-area service professionals. The team at Swift Accounting Ltd. Calgary frequently helps clients in exactly this position — choosing the right time to register for GST/HST, structuring payroll remittances correctly, and deciding when incorporation makes financial sense.
Your filing frequency is set when you register based on expected revenue. Annual filers (revenue under $1.5M) have a due date three months after fiscal year-end. Quarterly and monthly filers have shorter windows. Missing deadlines triggers interest at the CRA's prescribed rate plus arrears interest.
For 2025, the Canada Pension Plan Year's Maximum Pensionable Earnings (YMPE) is $71,300. Employer and employee CPP contributions are calculated on earnings between the basic exemption ($3,500) and the YMPE. Remittances are due by the 15th of the month following the pay period for regular remitters. Failure to remit on time attracts penalties starting at 3% of the overdue amount.
Life changes. When it does, update your CRA registration promptly:
If you register online through Business Registration Online, your BN is issued in real time — typically within minutes. Registration by phone usually takes one business day for written confirmation to be processed. Mailed applications can take two to four weeks, and CRA's current processing times should be confirmed on their website before choosing this route.
It depends on your legal structure. If each business is a separate legal entity (for example, two corporations), each gets its own BN. If you are a sole proprietor running two different businesses under your own name, both activities are tied to the same BN — you can hold separate GST/HST accounts under that single BN if needed to track revenue streams differently, but this is uncommon and must be requested from CRA.
No. CRA does not charge a fee to issue a BN or to open program accounts. Some provincial registries charge fees for business-name registration or incorporation, but the federal BN registration itself is free. Be cautious of third-party websites that charge fees to "help" you register — this process is straightforward enough to complete directly with CRA at no cost.
Collecting GST/HST without a valid registration number is a serious problem. Any amounts collected must still be remitted to CRA, and you may face penalties for failing to register when required. CRA can also assess GST/HST retroactively to the date you exceeded the small-supplier threshold, which can create a significant unexpected liability. If you have been collecting tax informally or are unsure of your registration status, it is worth reviewing your situation with a professional as soon as possible.
Getting your CRA Business Number set up correctly from the start prevents cascading compliance headaches down the road. Whether you are launching a solo consulting practice, incorporating a family business, or scaling up to your first employees, the registration decisions you make in the early months shape your administrative obligations for years to come. The advisors at Swift Accounting Ltd. work with Calgary businesses at every stage — from initial BN registration through to corporate restructuring — to make sure your CRA accounts reflect your actual activities and keep you in good standing. If you have questions about which program accounts you need, whether to register for GST/HST voluntarily, or how to handle a business structure change, get in touch with our team today for straightforward, practical guidance.
