By law, Alberta corporations are required to have both a registered office and a records address that are open to the public during regular business hours. This is to ensure that members of the public, shareholders, directors and creditors are able to access certain records of the corporation, and to allow service of legal and other documents upon the company.

Corporations often hire a law firm to provide annual corporate maintenance services, as well as to act as the registered office and records address. There are a number of reasons for this, including the following:

• some business owners don't have an office that's open during regular business hours and would prefer not to list their home address publicly;
• if legal documents are served upon the corporation at the registered office (which is typically the case), a law firm can often take steps to delay any further proceedings until such time as instructions can be obtained from the corporation. This can prevent the corporation from losing the claim by default for failing to file a response in time;
• if a law firm acts as the registered office, it typically also arranges to file the corporation's annual corporate return with the applicable corporate registries office when due, ensuring that the corporation isn't struck for failing to file annual returns.
• as the registered office, most law firms will prepare annual resolutions of the directors and shareholder of the corporation to ensure that the basic decision making requirements of the corporation are met. This can help to avoid future problems caused by a lack of proper documentation, which can become a significant issue in the event of a shareholder dispute, and when the shareholders wish to sell their shares in the company.

For more information regarding our registered office services click on the "Book a Consultation" button below.

If you'd like to incorporate an Alberta business with a law firm and receive both registered office and records address services for one low price, click on the "Incorporate Now" button below and choose our Standard or Pro incorporation package.

Our Standard and Pro incorporation packages each includes 1 year of registered office and records address services to help you start off your business right. After the first year, if you wish to continue using our registered office and records address services, you can do so for a small yearly fee.

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