What’s in a name? When it comes to your business, a lot. Your business name is the first thing a potential customer will know about you.Â
To start a business in British Columbia, you need to submit your proposed business name to the BC names examiner for evaluation. This is called a name approval request.
The registry office will check if your desired name is too similar to existing names on the BC Corporate Register, which is meant to prevent confusion among the public.
Approving your business name is the first step in the registration process. BC Registry Services have to approve your name if you are:
- Incorporating a company, society or cooperative
- Registering a Partnership or Sole Proprietorship
Name Approval Request Form
To apply for a name approval you have to complete the Name Approval Request Form.
Download Name Approval Request Form
You can have up to three choices of names on a Name Approval Request Form. The Corporate Registry will only examine the request until a name is approved. For example, if your first choice is approved, they will not search the remaining two.
Your business name must have the following two things to be considered:
- The first part of your name must start with a distinctive non-descriptive word or phrase. For example, a geographical location, your name, a made-up word or phrase, or initials.
- The second part of your name must describe what type of business you are in. For example, shoe store, investments, or dog wash.
Therefore, "John’s Shoe Store" or "Vancouver Doggy Wash" will be approved but "The Shoe Store" or "The Doggy Wash" will not be.
Also, if you are incorporating a company, you must add a third component called the corporate designation. For example, Limited, Ltd., Corporation, Corp., Incorporated, Inc.
However, a corporate designation is not used if you are registering a Sole Proprietorship or Partnership.
