Professional Corporation

This is a business decision. The College recommends that you discuss your plans with an accountant or lawyer who specializes in this area.

You may submit the application and supporting documents via email to corporations@cpo.on.ca

Or by regular mail to:
110 Eglinton Avenue West
Suite 500
Toronto, Ontario  M4R 1A3

You may submit the application fee in the following ways:

• Electronic Bill Payment may be made through web banking.
• Email Transfer payments may be sent to payments@cpo.on.ca. Please use  CPO + your registration number as the password (ex. CPO####)
• Mail a Cheque to the College.

Once a complete application package has been received by the College, it takes 2 to 3 weeks for processing. The effective date of the certificate is the date the complete package and application fee was received.

The application fee for a new Certificate of Authorization is $350.

There are restrictions on the names of professional corporations. Please refer to the College Guide to an Application for Certificate of Authorization for Professional Corporation. Briefly, the names of professional corporations must:

• Include the surname of one or more shareholders of the corporation as the surname is set out in the College register;
• Indicate the health profession practised by the shareholders (i.e. “psychology”);
• Include the words “Professional Corporation” or “Société professionnelle”.

For detailed information, please refer to section 3.2 of the Business Corporation Act, 1990 and Ontario Regulation 39/02 under the Regulated Health Professions Act, 1991.  It is also wise to consult with the College before setting up your corporation to ensure that the name is appropriate.

Examples: Smith Psychology Professional Corporation; Smith and Jones Psychology Professional Corporation; John Smith Psychology Professional Corporation; J. Smith Psychology Professional Corporation.

You may use a different practice name than the name of your professional corporation. You must list every practice name under which the professional corporation practices when completing the application form.

Speak to your own lawyer or accountant about the requirements for registering business names.

The College does not approve or comment on practice names, and there are no specific rules for practice names other than to ensure the name does not violate the section of the Advertising Regulation, (see section 18.1) This section prohibits in advertising, and so also in naming, something that would suggest uniqueness, specialty or something that is false or misleading.

Only members of the College of Psychologists of Ontario.

Yes, if all the shareholders, officers and directors of the holding company are registered members with the College of Psychologists of Ontario.

The certificate is valid for one year and must be renewed annually on the date of authorization. Members will be emailed a renewal package approximately 6 weeks prior to this date.

The fee for renewal of a Certificate of Authorization is $250.

The requirements related to issuance and renewals of Certificates of Authorization are set out in the Regulated Health Professions Act, 1991 (RHPA) and the Certificates of Authorization Regulation. They apply equally to all regulated health professions in Ontario. The general requirement for annual renewal is written into these regulations as a fixed component. The College asks members to complete only what is required under the RHPA.

A Corporation Profile Report is a document issued by the Ontario Ministry of Government and Consumer Services that indicates that the corporation is registered and active. The legislation sets out the requirements for the annual renewal of your Certificate of Authorization. One of those requirements is that a current-dated Corporation Profile Report accompanies your annual renewal application regardless of how long your health professional corporation has been in existence.

You may obtain a newly issued Corporation Profile Report from:

Ministry of Government and Consumer Services:
Companies and Personal Property Security Branch
Website: https://www.ontario.ca/page/ontario-business-registry#section-1 
Telephone: 416-314-8880 or 1-800-361-3223

or through one of the private-sector service providers under contract with the Ministry of Government and Consumer Services:

• ecore by Dye & Durham Corporation
• ESC Corporate Services Ltd.

The Corporation Profile Report does not need to be certified.

You must submit articles of amendment filed with the Ministry of Government Services if you made any changes, such as a name change, to the corporation since incorporation or the last renewal.

No. Members intending to incorporate must do so under the Ontario Business Corporations Act. For forms and instructions on how to incorporate, contact the Companies Branch of the Ministry of Government Services website or call 416-314-8880.

Health profession corporations incorporated in a jurisdiction outside Ontario, including corporations federally incorporated under the Canada Business Corporations Act, cannot obtain a Certificate of Authorization from the College. They must incorporate under the Ontario Business Corporations Act, and satisfy the conditions and requirements of the RHPA to be considered a health profession corporation in Ontario.

No, if you are practising the profession of psychology through a corporation it may only be a psychology professional corporation that operates under a Certificate of Authorization issued by the College of Psychologists of Ontario.

Yes – In fact, the College must revoke a professional corporation’s Certificate of Authorization in a number of circumstances.  These include:

• The corporation ceases to be eligible to hold a Certificate of Authorization.
• The corporation ceases to practise the profession in respect of which the Certificate of Authorization was issued.
• The corporation fails to comply with one or more of the requirements for a renewal of the Certificate of Authorization.
• The corporation carries on any business that is not the practice of the profession governed by the College or activities related to or ancillary to the practice of that profession.

If the College revoked a Certificate of Authorization, the professional corporation must apply for a new one and meet the eligibility requirements in effect at the time of the new application. At that time one must submit the required application and supporting documents and pay the application fee.

While both are corporations, the rules that stipulate their ownership structures and the activities that they can undertake are different.

Professional Corporations

The shareholders of professional corporations must all be members of the same health regulatory college as must all the officers and directors of the professional corporation. Further, the only business that a professional corporation is permitted to undertake is the practice of the profession and activities that are related to or ancillary to the practice of the profession. Every professional corporation is also required to obtain a Certificate of Authorization from the college of its members before it is permitted to conduct its business.

Practice Management Corporations

In contrast, the ownership rules of corporations that manage practices are more relaxed. Members of different health professions, non-health professionals and even family members can be shareholders as well as officers or directors. Corporations that manage practices are not permitted to practice any regulated health profession and the shareholders of these corporations are not permitted to practice their regulated health profession through the corporation. This does not mean that members cannot work for non-professional corporations owned by others. Rather, it means that when they are working for a such a corporation, they are practicing as individual health professionals outside of the corporation.  Because these corporations are not permitted to practice a regulated health profession, they are not required to register with the College or Colleges of their shareholders.

The College is not in a position to legal advice with respect to the Business Corporations Act. Your legal and business advisors can provide specific advice relevant to your circumstance.

There are differences between professional corporations and those that manage practices and are not professional corporations. A corporation that manages a practice, and is not a health professional corporation,  is not permitted to practice a regulated health profession and hence is not required to register with the College or Colleges of their shareholders. 

The College is not in a position to legal advice with respect to the Business Corporations Act. Your legal and business advisors can provide specific advice relevant to your circumstance.

The word “ancillary” is not defined in the Business Corporations Act, 1990 from which this condition arises. It’s the College’s position that, in this context, it means subordinate, subsidiary, or secondary to the practice of psychology. Despite similarities in the practices, Social Workers, Social Service Workers and Registered Psychotherapists are practicing distinct other professions.

Psychology may only be practiced in Ontario by members of the College of Psychologists or those supervised by them. Professional services provided by autonomous practitioners of different professions would not be considered the practice of psychology. It’s the College’s understanding that the practice of other professions would not be considered to be ancillary to the practice of psychology.