Extra-territorial corporations

1. Overview

With the exception of licensed insurance companies, all extra-territorial corporations incorporated elsewhere but carrying on business in the Northwest Territories as defined in the Business Corporations Act must register with Corporate Registries. You are required to register regardless of how long you plan to do business in the Northwest Territories.

To register an extra-territorial corporation within the Northwest Territories, you must submit to Corporate Registries:

• a Northwest Territories Application for Name Search and Reservation form - except when registering a numbered or federal company;
• Form 18: Statement of Registration of Extra-Territorial Corporation;
• Form 21: Notice of Registered Office;
• notarized or government certified copies of the corporation's charter documents (certificate of incorporation/amalgamation, articles of incorporation, etc.);
• a certificate of status/good standing/compliance from the incorporating jurisdiction dated not more than 30 days prior to the submission of documents; and
• applicable fees.

Registering your company is only one of the steps involved in organizing your business within the Northwest Territories; there are other requirements which you will need to consider. It is your responsibility to identify and fulfill the legal requirements for operating your business; however for your convenience we provide some resources for businesses which you may find useful. You can also find practical information in our How to Extra-Territorially Register package on the forms page

You can search for business names (sole proprietorships) and partnerships, territorial and extra-territorial corporations, non-profit societies, co-operative associations, and other entities registered in the Northwest Territories online using the Corporate Registries Online System.

Basic information such as the legal name, status, and type of organization is available free of charge. A full entity profile including scanned copies of documents filed by the organization can be accessed for a fee.

Submissions that are not completed correctly are available for retrieval at the Corporate Registries Office. The Government of Northwest Territories does not provide free postage to return submissions for correction. If a submitter requests the documents be mailed back to them, staff will process the mail for the submitter if a prepaid, self-addressed and trackable envelope is provided.

Payment Information

Fees can be paid by cash, cheque, Visa or Mastercard.

• Payments can be made in-person during business hours.
• Cheques/money orders must be made payable to: "Government of the Northwest Territories."
• Credit card information can be included with a cover letter or submission sheet.
• Failure to provide payment information will delay the processing of filings until payment information is provided.

Do I need to have an address within the Northwest Territories?

Yes, subsection 287(1) of the Business Corporations Act instructs that ‘a registered extra-territorial corporation shall at all times have a registered office in the Northwest Territories’.

What is the deadline for filing your Annual Return with the Corporate Registry?

Annual returns (Form 27) for all corporations are due by the end of the month following the anniversary date of incorporation/amalgamation.