Incorporation

What is a corporation?
A corporation is a distinct and separate legal and tax entity from its owner(s). Incorporating reduces your personal liability, has tax advantages, offers credibility. You can choose to incorporate Federally or provincially in the province of your head office. It Is usually more expensive to incorporate Federally as your Federal corporation must also be registered in the province of its head office, which normally involves a second government fee.

Registering a Business Name

Sole Proprietorships/General Partnerships
In order to operate under a business name other than your own name you must register the name. This is a sole proprietorship if you are one individual, or if you are more than one individual it is a general partnership.

Registering a business name does not offer the same name protection as incorporating, and it does not offer the same tax advantages or reduce your personal liability because you are still operating under your person. You are not creating a legal entity. However, it is less expensive to register a business name than to incorporate and easier and less costly to maintain.

If you are just starting out and testing the waters this is a good first step.