The Business Name Registration Act

The Business Names Registration Act deals with the registration and protection of the business names of unincorporated businesses. The Act applies to sole proprietorships, partnerships and limited partnerships.

It excludes professional businessess regulated by a governing body provided that the surname of a member or former member of the firm is part of the business name.

A business must register its name with the Director of Corporations. Extra-provincial limited partnerships carrying on business in Saskatchewan are also required to register under the Act.

The major provisions of the Act include:

• restrictions on the use of business names (e.g., a business name cannot be identical or so similar to another registered name as to cause confusion or suggest a connection with any government or political party in Canada);
• rocedures for reservation of a business name while a name search is being conducted;
• specific provisions in the case of limited partnerships and extra-provincial partnerships (e.g., the application for registration is a declaration signed by all the partners and includes the business name, nature of business, and the names and residences of the general and limited partners); and
• penalties for carrying on business without being registered.