# Start your construction business in Ontario without missing a step

The trade is the part you already know. The part nobody teaches is that going out on your own in Ontario means dealing with four governments at once: ServiceOntario for the company, CRA for the business number and HST account, WSIB for coverage, and whichever regulator owns your trade, ESA, TSSA, or HCRA. None of them explains where the others fit, and the price of a missed step usually arrives years later, as a penalty letter or a builder refusing you site access.

This page walks the path in order. By the end of it you will have seen the full order of operations on one screen, walked the three steps from a name to a filed Ontario incorporation, and know the all-in cost before you spend a dollar. The whole walk is free and needs no account: the wizard runs in a guest session and nothing is filed until you authorize and pay.

## How contractors describe the problem

These are real posts from people standing exactly where you are:

> "I am contemplating starting my own glazing/door/caulking sub-contracting business in ontario, but search engines are horrible resources these days and I could not find a straight forward answer. I have read about licensing through the HCRA. What all goes into that? What steps are after? How do you navigate insurance? How do you obtain WSIB coverage?"
>
> [a glazing sub on r/Construction](https://www.reddit.com/r/Construction/comments/1dhxln8/subcontractors_of_ontario_seeking_advice/)

> "what I'm looking for is info on the whole legal process of getting registered so i don't miss any steps, I don't have anyone close to me that runs their own so I'm reaching out on here lol."
>
> [an HVAC tech on r/ProHVACR](https://www.reddit.com/r/ProHVACR/comments/1iozrug/starting_a_business_in_ontario_canada_help/)

> "I started a plumbing business with a business partner and it seemed the best route was to incorporate. Being business noobs I had no idea WSIB was mandatory and even if it wasn't all builders ask for it."
>
> [a new plumbing company founder on r/SmallBusinessCanada](https://www.reddit.com/r/SmallBusinessCanada/comments/1khb6rl/on_how_does_wsib_work/)

And here is what the missed step looks like when it finally surfaces:

> "my tax preparer never mentioned anything to me when I crossed the $30,000 gross income threshold that would require me to get an HST number. This year I'm working with a new accountant and she has pointed out this problem and has me in a panic that the CRA is going to ask for all this money that I never collected, plus penalties and interest."
>
> [a self-employed Canadian on r/PersonalFinanceCanada](https://www.reddit.com/r/PersonalFinanceCanada/comments/1k38v9u/only_just_found_out_i_was_supposed_to_register_an/)

The fix for all four is the same thing: a written order of operations, and a system that remembers where you are in it.

## Open the front door

Go to [the launch page](/start-your-business). Two doors, no wall: create an account and start for real, or open a working demo business first and poke around every module with sample data. Nothing on this page asks for payment.

![The AEC Stack start-your-business front door: the first-hour promise with the create-account path and the instant demo business option side by side](https://ardhbbgplznadlvhywms.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/guide-assets/start-construction-business-ontario/front-door.png "The front door. Start for real, or look around a working demo business first. No payment to see anything.")

## The eight stages, in order

Scroll down the same page and the whole map is laid out: incorporation, CRA registration, provincial registrations including WSIB, trade licensing by what you actually do, insurance, safety compliance, operational setup, and bid ready. This is the answer to "what steps are after?", written down once, in order.

![The eight setup stages in order: incorporation, CRA registration, provincial registrations, trade licensing, insurance, safety compliance, operational setup, bid ready](https://ardhbbgplznadlvhywms.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/guide-assets/start-construction-business-ontario/stages-grid.png "The whole order of operations on one screen: incorporation through CRA, WSIB, licensing, insurance, and safety, ending at bid ready.")

Keep the sequence in your head even if you never sign up: the corporation comes first because everything else, the business number, the WSIB account, the licences, attaches to it.

## Step 1: structure, name, trades

Click Start from scratch and you are in a three-step wizard. Step 1 is the decision the forums argue about endlessly, laid out with the prices attached: a named corporation, a numbered corporation, or a sole proprietorship. Ontario or federal jurisdiction, each with its all-in cost on the card. Type a proposed name and it is checked live against Canadian registries, so you find out about a conflict now, not weeks after you ordered signage.

![Step 1 of the launch wizard: named, numbered, or sole proprietorship structure cards, Ontario or federal jurisdiction with all-in prices, and the business name with a clear NUANS check](https://ardhbbgplznadlvhywms.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/guide-assets/start-construction-business-ontario/wizard-step1.png "Step 1 of 3: pick your structure and jurisdiction, name the company, and get a live NUANS name check before you spend anything.")

The screens in this guide come from the guest demo run, prefilled with a sample company, which is why you see Northshore Builders Inc. in the frames. Nothing in a guest session is ever filed.

Below the name, your trades are picked in the words you use, not NAICS codes. Mark the work you do most as primary, add the rest. The filing codes are derived for you. It works the same from a phone, which matters when the office is a truck:

![The launch wizard on a phone: the business name cleared by the NUANS check and the plain-language trade picker with General Contracting marked as primary](https://ardhbbgplznadlvhywms.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/guide-assets/start-construction-business-ontario/wizard-trades-mobile.png#portrait "The same wizard on a phone: name check cleared, trades in plain language, your primary marked. NAICS codes are handled for you.")

## Step 2: people and address

Step 2 is the corporation's people. One director is enough, and at least one officer holds the title President. Add the director's legal name and address, and the registered office defaults to that address unless you set a different one. Share structure defaults to 100 common shares held by the first director, with an advanced panel only if you genuinely need something else at incorporation.

![Step 2 of the launch wizard: Directors & Officers with the first director's name, email, and address filled, and the officer title President selected](https://ardhbbgplznadlvhywms.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/guide-assets/start-construction-business-ontario/wizard-step2.png "Step 2 of 3: who owns and runs the corporation. One director is enough, at least one officer holds President, and the rest defaults sensibly.")

## Step 3: review and file

Step 3 is one screen: identity, people, address, the order summary, and a single authorization checkbox. The price is all-in. For an Ontario incorporation the screen shows $400.00 CAD, of which about $314 is government fees, with HST added at checkout. There is no separate service invoice hiding behind it.

![Step 3 of the launch wizard: the full review with identity, people and address, the all-in order summary showing government fees included, and the single filing authorization checkbox](https://ardhbbgplznadlvhywms.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/guide-assets/start-construction-business-ontario/wizard-review.png "Step 3 of 3: everything on one screen, one all-in price with government fees included, one authorization checkbox. We stop here; payment is the next click.")

Read the fine print on that screen, because it is the honest answer to the nine-question Reddit posts: the wizard files the incorporation. CRA Business Number, HST, WSIB, and trade licences are separate registrations that happen after your corporation exists, and the dashboard carries each of them so none is forgotten. This walkthrough stops here; the next click is payment, and you should only make it when you are ready to file.

## After filing: the dashboard

Once a launch exists, the dashboard becomes the memory a solo operator never has. The eight stages run across the top. A drop zone accepts your paperwork, WSIB clearance, insurance certificates, trade licences, CRA letters, and figures out what each one is. And a Reference Numbers panel holds the Corp number, Business Number, HST account, WSIB account, and payroll account in one place, the exact panel the contractor who lost their HST number needed.

![The launch dashboard for the demo business Lakeshore Electric Ltd.: the eight setup phases across the top, a document drop zone, and the reference numbers panel for Corp number, Business Number, HST, WSIB, and payroll](https://ardhbbgplznadlvhywms.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/guide-assets/start-construction-business-ontario/dashboard-checklist.png "After the wizard, the dashboard holds the rest: the phases across the top, a drop zone that files your paperwork, and one panel that keeps your Corp number, BN, HST, WSIB, and payroll numbers where you can find them.")

> **On AEC Stack:** the reason to get the paperwork right is the work that comes after it. The same account watches [a live feed of Ontario employers who just pulled permits or won contracts](/placements), so the company you just built has somewhere to point itself on day one.

## What it costs and what it is not

Looking costs nothing: the launch page, the demo business, and the entire wizard up to the payment step are free, no account required. Filing costs what the review screen shows on the day you file. At the time of writing that is $100 all-in for an Ontario sole proprietorship, $300 all-in for a federal corporation, and $400 all-in for an Ontario corporation, each including the government fees, with HST added at checkout. The platform itself has no monthly subscription. The platform fee is 2.5% of each invoice processed through AEC Stack.

What this is not: legal or tax advice. Sole prop versus incorporation is a real decision with WSIB, liability, and tax consequences, and the threads quoted above are full of people who got conflicting answers from accountants and from WSIB itself. If your situation is complicated, spend an hour with an accountant before you spend the filing fee. And incorporation is the first stage, not the finish line: WSIB, licences, and insurance are their own steps, which is why the dashboard tracks them instead of pretending they are done.

Start at [the launch page](/start-your-business) and walk the wizard to the review screen with your own name in it. If that takes fifteen minutes, that is the point: the confusion was never the paperwork, it was the missing order of operations.
