Professional Incorporation

You may wish to seek advice from a qualified professional such as a lawyer or accountant with experience in corporations to provide you with the benefits. Generally some benefits may include Tax Deferral and favourable small business corporate tax rates.

No. A corporation cannot practise social work or social service work unless it holds a current Certificate of Authorization as noted in the College’s bylaw 46.

Registrants who intend to practise social work or social service work through a professional corporation, must complete the following steps before applying for a Certificate of Authorization with the College:

• Step One – Apply for a professional corporation name
• Step Two – Incorporate with the Ontario Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery (MPBSD)
• Step 3 – Apply for a Certificate of Authorization with the College 

The application fee for a Certificate of Authorization is $500. The College strongly recommends that applicants review all instructions found in the Certificate of Authorization Application Package before filing for incorporation.

The Certificate is valid for one year and must be renewed annually with the College.

The fee for an annual renewal of a Certificate of Authorization is $400.

The renewal date is on or before the anniversary date of the issuance of the Certificate of Authorization from the College.

To be issued a Certificate of Authorization, the following documents are required as part of the application form:

• Completed application for proposed name (if applicable)
• Undertaking signed by each shareholder
• Statutory declaration of director
• Certificate of status issued by the MPBSD
• Copy of Certificate of Incorporation
• A copy of every certificate of the corporation endorsed under the Business Corporations Act on the day the application is submitted (i.e. articles of incorporation, articles of amendment, etc.)

The College strongly recommends that applicants review all instructions found in the Social Work Certificate of Authorization Application Package or the Social Service Work Certificate of Authorization Package before filing for incorporation.

An administrative fee of $50 will be levied for each notice sent by the College to the director of the corporation for failure of the professional corporation to renew its Certificate of Authorization prior to the anniversary date of the issuance of its Certificate of Authorization.

College registrants must apply for a professional corporation name by strictly following the Business Corporations Act naming convention.

The name of the professional corporation must include the surname of one or more shareholders of the corporation as the surname is set out in the College’s Online Register, it may also include the shareholder’s given name, one or more of the shareholder’s initials or a combination of given name and initials. Please note that all shareholders must be registrants with the College.

The name must include “Social Work Professional Corporation” / “société professionelle de travail social” or “Social Service Work Professional Corporation”/ “société professionelle de techniques de travail social”. The College will confirm if it objects to the establishment of a professional corporation under the proposed name.

The College may issue a revised Certificate of Authorization to a professional corporation if the corporation changes its name after the certificate of authorization has been issued to it. The corporation shall, within thirty (30) days of such change, notify the Registrar in writing and give the Registrar copies of the documents evidencing such change.

• Undertaking signed by each shareholder (if not previously submitted by the shareholder).
• Declaration of director signed not more than 15 days before the application for renewal is submitted to the College.
• Certificate of Status issued by the Ministry of Government Services issued not more than 30 days before the application for renewal is submitted to the College.
• Copy of every certificate of the professional corporation that has been endorsed under the Business Corporations Act since the corporation’s most recent application for a certificate of authorization or for renewal of its certificate of authorization (if applicable).

For more information download the Social Work Renewal of Certificate of Authorization Package or the Social Service Work Renewal of Certificate of Authorization Package.

If the professional corporation fails to renew the Certificate of Authorization on or before the anniversary date of the issuance of the Certificate of Authorization, the College may revoke the professional corporation’s Certificate of Authorization. The College shall revoke the professional corporation’s Certificate of Authorization 60 days after the date on which notice to do so is given.

Revocation can occur if:

• the professional corporation ceases to practice the profession with respect to which the certificate was issued;
• the professional corporation ceases to be eligible to hold a Certificate of Authorization;
• the professional corporation carries on business or activity that is not the practice of social work or social service work or activities related to or ancillary to the practice of such profession.

If a professional corporation’s Certificate of Authorization is revoked, a new Certificate of Authorization may be issued to the corporation only if the corporation is eligible to hold one and applies for a new certificate in accordance with the College’s bylaw 46. A Certificate of Authorization cannot be reinstated.

The professional corporation may, at any time, surrender its Certificate of Authorization by returning the original certificate to the College together with notice of the surrender thereof.  The College will acknowledge receipt of the notice of surrender and revoke the Certificate of Authorization. Please contact a qualified professional, such as a lawyer or an accountant for advice to dissolve your corporation.