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Physician guide · 2026
Setting up a medicine professional corporation: requirements, naming and CPSO steps.
Incorporating is only half the job. An Ontario physician has to incorporate a corporation that already meets the College's rules, give it a name in a prescribed format, and then obtain a CPSO 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.
Ontario Regulation 39/02 sets conditions that must already be true on the day the application goes in. Build them into the articles at incorporation rather than fixing them later.
- Restricted objects. The articles must state that the corporation cannot carry on any business other than the practice of medicine and activities related or ancillary to it.
- Voting shares. Every issued and outstanding voting share must be legally and beneficially owned, directly or indirectly, by a member of the CPSO.
- Non-voting shares. May be held by CPSO members, by a family member of a voting physician shareholder (spouse, child or parent), or by trustees in trust for the minor children of a voting physician shareholder.
- Directors and officers. All of them must be shareholders of the corporation who are CPSO members.
- Jurisdiction. Incorporate under the Ontario Business Corporations Act.
A share structure worth thinking about once: voting shares for the physician, a separate class of non-voting shares for a spouse or a family trust. Dividends to a spouse are limited by the income-splitting rules until you turn 65, and dividends to adult children or parents stay caught indefinitely, because a professional corporation cannot use the excluded-shares exception. The structure is still easier to create now than to amend later. See family shares and TOSI.
Step 2 — the name
The format is prescribed, and the Ministry will reject anything else:
Surname of one or more physician shareholders, exactly as it appears on the CPSO register, optionally with given name or initials — then Medicine Professional Corporation (or the French equivalent).
Example: Jane A. Smith Medicine Professional Corporation.
The name must indicate the profession, must include the words Professional Corporation, and must not include any other information — no trade names, no clinic names, no descriptive words. A numbered company is not permitted. Where several physicians hold shares, only one shareholder’s surname has to appear.
Step 3 — the CPSO application
What the College needs, in order.
The corporation exists once the articles are filed, but it cannot practise medicine until the Certificate of Authorization is issued. Expect to assemble a package, not just fill in a form.
Incorporate and get the articles endorsed
File the articles in the prescribed name with the restricted objects and share classes above. Keep a copy of the certificate of incorporation and of any later endorsed certificates. The College asks for copies, not certified copies — including for a certificate of amendment.
Order a certificate of status
It must be dated no more than 30 days before the application is submitted, so order it once the rest of the package is nearly ready. Applications go in through the Corporations tab of the CPSO Member Portal, not by email or mail.
Complete the CPSO application and pay the fee
$400, paid online, non-refundable.
Have a director swear the statutory declaration
Certifying that the corporation complies with section 3.2 of the Business Corporations Act and its regulations; that it does not and will not carry on any business other than the practice of medicine and ancillary activities; that nothing has changed since the certificate of status; and that the application is complete and accurate.
Disclose shareholders, directors and premises
Every shareholder as of the application date — with business address, business telephone and CPSO registration number for those who are members — plus the names of all directors and officers and the address where the corporation carries on activities.
Then open the CRA and bank accounts
Corporate tax, HST and payroll accounts as needed, a corporate bank account, and a direction so that billings flow to the corporation from a clean start date.
Step 4 — afterwards
Keeping the certificate.
- Renew every year, on the anniversary of the certificate's date of issue — not at your corporate year-end. $175, through the Member Portal, with current shareholder, director and premises details. Your existing certificate stays valid while the renewal is processed, but a missed deadline brings a notice to revoke 60 days later, with no exceptions.
- Report changes in shareholders who are CPSO members, within 15 days. Changes to family-member shareholdings — a spouse's or child's non-voting shares — do not have to be reported unless that family member is also a CPSO member. Changes are filed through the Member Portal, not by email.
- Report a name or articles change promptly, with a copy of the endorsed certificate showing it.
- Keep the minute book current. Annual resolutions, share registers and the Ontario annual return.
What GATS does
We prepare and file the incorporation in the CPSO name format, set the share structure, open the CRA accounts, and give you the incorporation documents the College asks for. The Certificate of Authorization application itself is yours to make — we don't file it with the CPSO, and neither the application nor the annual renewal is part of our fee. From there we keep the books, file the T2 and prepare the year-end.
Call 647-870-8498 for a fee quote for a professional corporation.
Quick answers
What physicians ask about setting up an MPC.
What can I name my medicine professional corporation?
The surname of one or more physician shareholders as it appears on the CPSO register, optionally with a given name or initials, followed by “Medicine Professional Corporation”. No other words are permitted and a numbered company is not allowed.
Can I practise through the corporation as soon as it is incorporated?
No. The corporation must hold a CPSO Certificate of Authorization before it can practise medicine. Incorporation alone is not enough.
How long does a Certificate of Authorization take?
The College puts it at about two to three weeks for both new and renewal certificates, if the application is complete. The part you control is the package: a certificate of status is only valid for 30 days, so assemble everything else first. On a renewal, the certificate you already hold stays valid while the College processes it.
Who has to be a director of my medicine professional corporation?
All directors and officers must be shareholders of the corporation who are members of the CPSO. A spouse holding non-voting shares cannot be a director.
What happens if I add or remove a shareholder later?
If the shareholder is a CPSO member, notify the College within 15 days through the Member Portal. Adding or removing a family-member shareholder who is not a CPSO member does not have to be reported.
Sources: O. Reg. 39/02 and the CPSO certificate of authorization regulations; CPSO incorporation FAQ. General information, not legal advice. See also when to incorporate.
Ready to incorporate?
Call 647-870-8498 or email info@ghayurtax.com. We prepare the incorporation and the documents your CPSO application needs.