Ontario Business Registry Annual Return: The Filing Every Corporation Forgets (2026 Guide)

Reviewed by Bader A. Chowdry, CPA, CA, LPA on September 9, 2026

Ask most Ontario small-business owners whether they’ve filed their “corporate annual return” this year and you’ll often get a confident yes, because they’re thinking of their T2 corporate income tax return, filed every year without fail. The Ontario Annual Return, filed under the Corporations Information Act with the province rather than the CRA, is a completely separate obligation, and it’s the filing we most often find quietly missed when we take on a new client’s corporate compliance file, usually because nobody explicitly told them it existed as its own thing.

What is the Ontario Annual Return, and how is it different from my T2?

The Annual Return is a provincial registry filing required under the Corporations Information Act for corporations incorporated, continued, or amalgamated in Ontario (including professional corporations, not-for-profit corporations, and extra-provincial corporations carrying on business here). It updates the corporation’s registered office address, and its directors’ and officers’ names and addresses, in the public corporate registry. It is filed with the Ministry through the Ontario Business Registry (OBR), not with the Canada Revenue Agency, and it is entirely separate from the T2 corporate income tax return you file every year with the CRA, even though the two used to be more closely linked. Before May 2021, corporations could file their Ontario annual return information as part of their T2 return; the CRA stopped accepting that co-filing, and since October 2021 all Ontario Annual Returns must be filed directly through the OBR portal.

When exactly is my Ontario Annual Return due?

The deadline is within six months after the end of your corporation’s tax year, meaning a corporation with a December 31 fiscal year-end must file by June 30 of the following year, while a corporation with a June 30 fiscal year-end has until December 31. The deadline tracks your own corporation’s fiscal year-end, not a fixed calendar date, which is one reason it’s easy to lose track of relative to a T2 filing deadline that most owners have memorized.

Does it cost anything to file?

No. Filing the Annual Return directly through the Ontario Business Registry carries no government filing fee. Some corporations choose to have their accountant, lawyer, or a paid filing-service provider handle it on their behalf, and that professional or service fee is separate from (and unrelated to) any government charge, there simply isn’t one for the self-service filing itself.

What happens if I miss the deadline?

Missing a single year’s deadline doesn’t trigger an automatic penalty in the way a late T2 does. The real risk builds over repeated or extended non-compliance: the Ministry can issue a Notice of Default, giving the corporation a limited window to file and correct the default. If the default isn’t corrected within that window, the Ministry can proceed to involuntarily dissolve the corporation, administratively cancelling its corporate existence. Reviving a dissolved corporation afterward requires filing Articles of Revival with the Ministry, paying a government revival fee on top of that, and typically incurring legal fees to properly re-establish the corporation’s standing, a materially more expensive and disruptive process than simply filing the return on time would have been.

Case study: catching a lapsed filing before a financing deadline

A Mississauga-based professional corporation came to us mid-2026 in the middle of a bank refinancing that required a current corporate profile report as part of the lender’s due-diligence package. Pulling the profile revealed the client’s Annual Return hadn’t been filed in over two years, the corporation had changed accountants twice and the filing had simply fallen through the cracks each time, since neither the outgoing nor incoming accountant had explicitly flagged it as their responsibility. We filed the outstanding returns through the Ontario Business Registry, confirmed the corporation had not yet received a Notice of Default, and delivered a clean corporate profile report in time for the lender’s deadline.

Who is responsible for filing it, me or my accountant?

There’s no default rule that your accountant automatically files this for you as part of preparing your T2, unless it’s explicitly part of your engagement letter, the Annual Return is easy to fall between the cracks of “my accountant handles compliance” and “that’s a corporate-law matter for my lawyer.” In practice, we recommend building the Annual Return into whichever professional’s annual checklist is reviewing your corporate records each year, and confirming explicitly who owns that task rather than assuming it’s covered.

Frequently asked questions

Is the Ontario Annual Return the same as my T2 corporate tax return?

No. The Annual Return is a provincial corporate-registry filing under the Corporations Information Act, updating your registered address and director/officer information. Your T2 is a separate federal/provincial income tax filing with the CRA.

How much does it cost to file the Ontario Annual Return?

There is no government filing fee to file directly through the Ontario Business Registry. A professional may charge their own fee if they file it on your behalf.

What happens if I never file my Annual Return?

The Ministry can issue a Notice of Default with a window to correct it, and if the default isn’t corrected, can involuntarily dissolve the corporation, requiring Articles of Revival (plus a government revival fee and legal costs) to restore it.

Does every type of Ontario corporation have to file an Annual Return?

Yes. Corporations incorporated, continued, or amalgamated under Ontario law, including professional corporations, not-for-profit corporations, and extra-provincial corporations carrying on business in Ontario, are all subject to the Corporations Information Act filing requirement.