You’ve picked a name, you’ve got a client ready to pay you, and then it hits you: is any of this actually legal yet? Registering a business in Nova Scotia is more straightforward than most new owners expect. If you’re running as a sole proprietor or a partnership, you register online through the Registry of Joint Stock Companies, pay $68.55, and wait one to two weeks for your Certificate of Registration and Business Number. Here’s the process in order, and what to sort out once it’s done.

What Kind of Business Should You Register in Nova Scotia?

Most people opening a shop, a trade business, or a freelance practice in Halifax start as a sole proprietor: one owner, no separate legal entity, and the simplest paperwork of the common options. A partnership works the same way on paper, just with more than one owner listed. Nova Scotia actually registers a sole proprietorship as a partnership with a single partner, which is why both use the same online form. Incorporating is a different, more involved process handled directly through the Registry of Joint Stock Companies rather than the sole-proprietor form, and it suits some businesses and not others. If you’re not sure which structure fits, that’s worth a conversation with an accountant before you file anything.

How Much Does It Cost and How Long Does It Take?

For a sole proprietorship or partnership, registration costs $68.55 (current as of September 2026), and you’ll pay that same amount again every year to renew it, since the registration doesn’t renew itself. Nova Scotia’s government registration page lists the fee and confirms renewal is annual, with a reminder notice sent by mail or email, though tracking the date yourself is still on you. Processing typically takes one to two weeks from a complete application to the day your Certificate of Registration and Business Number show up, longer if the Registry has to follow up for more information or your form has an error in it.

How Do You Actually Pay?

Registering online means paying by credit card. If you’d rather use debit, a cheque, a money order, or cash, you can register in person or by mail instead, at a Registry of Joint Stock Companies or Access Nova Scotia office.

Do You Need a Municipal Licence Too?

Provincial registration and a Halifax Regional Municipality licence are two different things, and it’s easy to assume one covers the other. It doesn’t. HRM doesn’t require a general business licence for every business in the municipality, but it does license specific activities. Selling food or handmade crafts from a stand or a food truck on municipal land needs a vendor’s licence, for instance, and the fees vary a lot by type, from under $100 for something like a newspaper box up past $1,000 for a food service vehicle, based on the fee schedule HRM posts for its vendor licences. If your business touches municipal land, runs a taxi or rideshare service, or falls under another regulated activity, check HRM’s licensing pages for your specific situation instead of assuming provincial registration is the only step.

When Do You Need to Register for GST/HST?

Not right away, in most cases. The Canada Revenue Agency, the federal agency that collects tax and administers GST/HST, only requires registration once your revenue crosses $30,000 over four consecutive calendar quarters, a threshold known as the small supplier limit. Cross it within a single quarter and you have to start charging GST/HST immediately, on the sale that put you over. Cross it gradually across a few quarters instead, and you get 29 days from that point to register. Below the threshold, registering is optional. Some small businesses register anyway so they can claim back the GST/HST they pay on their own expenses, which is worth raising with a bookkeeper once you’re a few months in.

The Steps, In Order

1. Search the Registry of Joint Stock Companies name database yourself first, to see whether the business name you want is already taken.
2. Reserve your business name through the Name Reservation Request, which is recommended before you register even though it isn’t required.
3. Complete the Sole Proprietor Registration form online at the RJSC portal, or use the paper form if you’re mailing or hand-delivering it instead.
4. Gather your supporting documents and have $68.55 ready, by credit card online or another accepted method in person.
5. Submit your completed application along with your documents and payment.
6. Wait one to two weeks for your Certificate of Registration and Business Number to arrive.
7. Mark your renewal date somewhere you’ll actually see it, since you’ll owe the same $68.55 again next year.

What This Actually Costs

In dollars, registration itself runs $68.55, plus the same fee again every year to keep it active. If your business needs a municipal licence for a specific activity, budget for that separately, since fees range widely by licence type. GST/HST registration itself doesn’t cost anything; what it adds is the requirement to charge, collect, and remit tax once you’re registered, which is a bookkeeping habit more than an expense. In terms of time, most owners can get through the actual form-filling in under an hour. The one-to-two-week wait for your certificate is the part you can’t rush by paying more.

Get Registered, Then Get to Work

None of this is complicated once you know the order. Where new owners lose time is usually skipping the name search first, or assuming a municipal licence covers what the province requires, or the other way around. Registering is the paperwork part of starting a business, not the hard part, and clearing it out of the way is what lets you sign a lease, open a business bank account, or take on that first client without wondering if you’re allowed to. Once you’re through it and want a second pair of eyes on what comes next, Halifax Partnership’s free SmartBusiness consulting is worth a call, and if your next milestone is bringing on paid help, I wrote a separate piece on what has to happen before hiring your first employee in Nova Scotia. For more on running and growing a business in the Halifax area, you can browse the rest of the Halifax Business Blog.

One thing worth flagging before you get too far past the paperwork: once your registration comes through, it’s worth getting a quote before you actually open the doors, since a landlord signing your lease or a client signing a contract will often want to see proof of coverage first. You can read more about how I work with new Halifax businesses on my about page.

About the author. Rayanur Rahman writes about running and growing a business in Halifax. He is a commercial insurance broker with Western Financial Group in Bedford, Nova Scotia, and works with businesses of every kind across the Halifax Regional Municipality. Reach him at 902-321-1712 or book a 30 minute call.

Sources: Nova Scotia: Register a Sole Proprietorship. Nova Scotia: Guide to Registering a Business. CRA: When to Register for and Start Charging GST/HST. Halifax: How to Get a Vendor’s Licence. Photo by Hayley Parker on Pexels. Photo by RDNE Stock project on Pexels. Photo by Pavel Danilyuk on Pexels. Prices and program details checked September 2026 and can change. General information only.