There are many advantages to incorporating. The main advantage is the limited liability that comes with incorporating. What this means is only the assets of the corporation can be used to bear corporate liabilities—essentially, in most situations, your personal assets are separate and safe. In addition to this, there may be opportune tax advantages and ways to raise (issue shares) capital when incorporated.

Unlike other business types, the setting up of a corporation will have upfront and recurring costs associated with it. Because corporations are closely regulated, extensive corporate records must be kept, and annual returns must be filed with the government.

Many people set up their company simply as a numbered company i.e. 12345 Alberta Ltd. This is by far the easiest approach. In a situation where you would like to give your corporation a specific name, a NUANS report would need to be pulled to ensure your name is not identical/similar to existing corporations.