At some point a business may have to change address and that will require careful planning to ensure that change of address goes without a hitch.
Change of corporate address not only requires moving premises and furniture/equipment. It also means updating your business address.
How to Change a Business Address
When updating your business address you want to make sure you have not forgotten to update your address with the banks, mail, vendors, government (provincial/federal), insurance provider, utilities, and other service providers.
When you change your address you should make sure that you have updated your corporation address with CRA, Provincial, and Federal Government.
Change Address with CRA
You have three options when changing address with CRA
Online – Go to the CRA website and login to My Business Account and change it online.
Telephone: Call 1-800-959-5525 and change it over the phone.
Mail: You can also change the business address by writing a letter. The letter must include the following information.
- Business name
- Business number
- the new address
- the old address
- date of change of address
- your signature
- CRA accounts that need to be updated
You can contact your tax centre to obtain the mailing address.
Change address with Provincial Government
You will also have to update your business address in the province where you are located.
- Alberta – fill out the online form and email it to: sa.cooperatives@gov.ab.ca or fax it to 780-427-3033. Alternatively, you can mail it to the address on the form.
- British Columbia – fill out the online form and mail it to the address on the form.
- Manitoba – fill out the online form and mail it to the address on the form.
- New Brunswick – fill out the online form and submit it online.
- Newfoundland and Labrador- download the form and mail it to the address on the form.
- Nova Scotia – fill out the online form and submit it online or download the form and mail it to the address on the form.
- Ontario – fill out the online form and submit it online or mail it to the address on the form. Alternatively, you can fax it to 1-866-888-3850.
- Prince Edward Island – download the form and mail, fax or email to the address on the form.
- Saskatchewan: fill out the online form and submit it online or mail it to the address on the form.
- Quebec – fill out the online form and submit it online or download the form and mail it to the address on the form.
Changing address with banks
It is important to change your address with your bank as it will have a direct impact on receiving timely correspondence.
If you issue payments via cheques then you will need updated cheques that have your new business address.
Utilities
You should inform your utilities provider before moving premises. This will ensure that the utilities provider knows which date you are no longer occupying your current premises and it provides them enough time to setup your change of address. You don’t want to be billed for usage at your previous address.
You should ensure there is no disruption in receiving mail. As you change your address there is bound to be mail that will continue to be delivered to your now old address.
To ensure you don’t miss any mail you can take advantage of mail forwarding service. Canada Post has mail forwarding service for up to 12 months. This means that if you choose you can have your mail forwarded to your new location for 12 twelve months, giving you enough time to ensure you have updated your address.
Follow the steps discussed on how to change a business address and ensure you have made the necessary updates. This list may not cover all the places where you may need to change the business address, your business may have additional places where the address needs to be updated.
