What Types of Business Names Are There

A Business Name is the name under which an individual carries on business or the name under which a corporation carries on business other than its corporate name.

An individual carrying on business under his or her own name or under a different name, such as Joe’s Dry Cleaning, would be considered to be a sole proprietorship .

A corporation carrying on business under a business name, i.e. 2225522 Ontario Limited, carrying on business as Joe's Dry Cleaning, would be considered to be carrying on business under the business name “Joe's Dry Cleaning”.

Even though each has the same name they are actually two separate forms of registration. One is considered a Sole Proprietorship Registration the other is considered a Business Name Registration. Sometimes Business Names are also called Trade Names.

This section of the website deals with business names registered against companies. Refer to Sole Proprietorships for registrations done for individuals.