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Dentist guide · 2026
Setting up a dentistry professional corporation: requirements, naming and RCDSO steps.
Incorporating is only half the job. An Ontario dentist has to incorporate a corporation that already meets the College's rules, give it a name in a prescribed format, and then obtain an RCDSO Certificate of Authorization before the corporation can practise. Here is the whole sequence.
Step 1 — the requirements
What the corporation must look like before you apply.
The health profession corporation rules under Ontario Regulation 39/02 apply to dentists as they do to other regulated health professionals. These conditions must already be true on the day you apply, so build them into the articles at incorporation.
- Restricted objects. The articles must state that the corporation cannot carry on any business other than the practice of dentistry and activities related or ancillary to it.
- Voting shares. Held by dentists who are members of the RCDSO.
- Non-voting shares. May be held by College members, by a family member of a voting dentist shareholder (spouse, child or parent), or by a trust for the dentist’s minor children with those children as beneficiaries.
- Directors and officers. Must be dentists who are members of the College and authorized to sign for the corporation.
- Jurisdiction. Ontario only. The RCDSO does not permit a federally incorporated dentistry professional corporation.
Set the share classes at incorporation: voting shares for the dentist, a separate non-voting class for a spouse or a family trust. Dividends to a spouse are limited by the income-splitting rules until age 65; dividends to adult children or parents stay caught indefinitely, because a professional corporation cannot use the excluded-shares exception. Amending share structure later still costs more than getting it right once.
Step 2 — the name
The format is prescribed:
Surname of one or more dentist shareholders as it appears on the College register, optionally with a given name or initials — then Dentistry Professional Corporation (or the French equivalent).
Example: Jane A. Smith Dentistry Professional Corporation.
The name must indicate the profession, must include the words Professional Corporation, and must not carry any other information — your practice’s trade name cannot form part of it. Numbered companies are not permitted. The RCDSO publishes its own naming criteria; check it before the articles are filed, because a rejected name means filing again.
Step 3 — the RCDSO application
What the College needs, in order.
The corporation exists once the articles are filed, but it cannot practise dentistry until the Certificate of Authorization is issued.
Incorporate under the Ontario Business Corporations Act
In the prescribed name, with the restricted objects and the share classes above. Keep a copy of the certificate of incorporation and of any later endorsed certificates.
Order a Corporate Profile Report
Not a certificate of status — the RCDSO's forms ask for a Corporate Profile Report issued by the Ontario ministry, dated no more than 30 days before the application reaches the College. They are different documents, so check the current form before you order, and leave it until the rest of the package is ready.
Apply to the RCDSO and pay $750
Non-refundable. A revised certificate later — after a name change, for example — costs $150.
Provide the declaration and the disclosure
A director’s statutory declaration that the corporation complies with section 3.2 of the Business Corporations Act and carries on no business other than dentistry and ancillary activities, together with the shareholders, directors, officers and the address of the practice.
Then open the CRA and bank accounts
Corporate tax and payroll accounts, a corporate bank account, and a clean start date for moving billings and staff payroll across. Most dental services are HST-exempt, so an HST account is often not needed. Two exceptions are worth checking before you decide: purely cosmetic work can be taxable, and orthodontic appliances are zero-rated, which is a commercial activity — a practice doing that work can often register and recover meaningful input tax credits. Crowns, bridges and dentures that you fit yourself are different: the CRA treats them as part of an exempt dental service. Since fiscal years beginning on or after January 1, 2025 the CRA no longer accepts the old 35% administrative split, so any claim needs a documented fair and reasonable allocation — see HST and input tax credits for dental practices.
Tell the parties who pay you
Principal dentists, associates and any plans or assignment arrangements need the corporation’s details from the start date, and the associate agreement may need to be assigned to the corporation.
Step 4 — afterwards
Keeping the certificate.
- Renew every year by August 31. Every RCDSO certificate expires on August 31 whatever date it was issued, and a certificate that is not renewed is revoked effective September 1. The fee is $175 if you pay by July 31 and $200 after — which is the real reason to diarize July, not August.
- Report changes. Shareholder, director, officer, name and premises changes go to the College, with a fresh declaration where required.
- Keep the minute book current. Annual resolutions, share registers and the Ontario annual return.
- Keep the corporation clean. Personal expenses run through the practice are the most common problem we see on a first year-end.
What GATS does
We prepare and file the incorporation in the RCDSO name format, set the share structure, open the CRA accounts, and hand you the incorporation documents the College asks for. The Certificate of Authorization application itself is yours to file — we don't submit it to the RCDSO, and neither it nor the August 31 renewal is part of our fee. Then we keep the books with AI-assisted bookkeeping reviewed by a person, run the team’s payroll, prepare the year-end and the T2, and prepare compilation reports through the CPAs on our team when a lender asks.
Call 647-870-8498 for a fee quote for a professional corporation.
Quick answers
What dentists ask about setting up a corporation.
What can I name my dentistry professional corporation?
The surname of one or more dentist shareholders as it appears on the College register, optionally with a given name or initials, followed by “Dentistry Professional Corporation”. Your practice trade name cannot be part of it, and numbered companies are not permitted.
Can I practise through the corporation as soon as it is incorporated?
No. The corporation needs an RCDSO Certificate of Authorization before it can practise dentistry.
What does the RCDSO charge?
$750 for the initial application and $150 for a revised certificate. The annual renewal is $175 if paid by July 31 and $200 after. Certificates expire every August 31 and must be renewed annually; one that is not renewed is revoked on September 1.
Can I federally incorporate my dental practice?
No. The RCDSO requires incorporation under the Ontario Business Corporations Act.
Can my spouse be a director of my dentistry professional corporation?
No. Directors and officers must be dentists who are members of the College. A spouse can hold non-voting shares, and a trust can hold them for your minor children.
Sources: RCDSO, Health Profession Corporations; O. Reg. 39/02, health profession corporations. General information, not legal advice; confirm the College’s current forms and fees before filing. See also dentistry professional corporations.
Incorporating your dental practice?
Call 647-870-8498 or email info@ghayurtax.com. We handle the incorporation and the first year-end.