Business Number in Canada (2026): What the BN Is, How to Get One and How Program Accounts Work

Almost every Canadian business ends up with a business number, but many owners aren't sure what it is, when they need one, or why their GST number has extra letters on the end. This guide is for sole proprietors, partners and new corporations dealing with the Canada Revenue Agency in 2026. It explains what the BN is, how program accounts such as RT, RP and RC hang off it, how to get one free through Business Registration Online, which provinces issue it for you, how to find a lost BN or check someone else's, and what changed when the CRA stopped phone registrations in November 2025.

Quick answer

A business number (BN) is a free, nine-digit identifier from the Canada Revenue Agency. Your tax accounts attach to it as program accounts — for example 123456789 RT0001 for GST/HST and RP0001 for payroll. You get a BN online through Business Registration Online in your CRA account, or automatically when you register or incorporate in most provinces or federally.

• Cost: free — the CRA charges nothing for a BN or program accounts

• Sole proprietors need one only when they open a program account (GST/HST, payroll, import)

• Since 3 November 2025 new BNs can't be requested by phone

• Ontario BIN and Quebec NEQ are not CRA business numbers

What a business number is

The BN is the federal government's standard identifier for a business or other legal entity. The CRA issues it, but it isn't only a tax number: the same nine digits are used by several provinces, by other federal departments and, for federal suppliers, as the base for a Procurement Business Number. The idea is "one business, one number" — you quote the BN whenever a government program asks who you are.

On its own, a BN doesn't make you register for anything or file anything. It is a label. The obligations come from the program accounts you open under it. A corporation always has a BN, because it needs a corporation income tax account. A sole proprietor may go years without one.

A BN is tied to a legal entity, not to a trade name. If you, as a sole proprietor, run a bakery and a bookkeeping practice under two names, both use the same BN, because both belong to you. If you later incorporate, the new corporation is a different legal person and gets a new BN; your personal BN stays with you, and you close its accounts once the sole proprietorship stops.

How program accounts work: RT, RP, RC and the rest

A full CRA program account number has three parts: the nine-digit BN, a two-letter program identifier and a four-digit reference number. So 123456789 RT0001 is the first GST/HST account of business 123456789. If the same business later opens a second payroll account for a separate division, it becomes RP0002.

The CRA program identifiers you're most likely to meet

Identifier	Program account	Who needs it
RT	GST/HST	Businesses that must or choose to collect GST/HST
RP	Payroll deductions	Employers and other payers of employment income
RC	Corporation income tax	Every corporation (opened automatically when you incorporate federally or in a partner province)
RZ	Information returns	Filers of T5, T5018, T5013 and similar returns
RM	Import and export	Commercial importers and exporters — administered by the CBSA since 21 October 2024
RR	Registered charity	Registered charities
LT / RU / PT	Luxury tax / Underused Housing Tax / global minimum tax	Specialised cases only

RT

Program account

GST/HST

Who needs it

Businesses that must or choose to collect GST/HST

RP

Program account

Payroll deductions

Who needs it

Employers and other payers of employment income

RC

Program account

Corporation income tax

Who needs it

Every corporation (opened automatically when you incorporate federally or in a partner province)

RZ

Program account

Information returns

Who needs it

Filers of T5, T5018, T5013 and similar returns

RM

Program account

Import and export

Who needs it

Commercial importers and exporters — administered by the CBSA since 21 October 2024

RR

Program account

Registered charity

Who needs it

Registered charities

LT / RU / PT

Program account

Luxury tax / Underused Housing Tax / global minimum tax

Who needs it

Specialised cases only

The CRA also lists accounts for the Air Travellers Security Charge (RG), excise duty (RD), excise tax and special levies (RE) and insurance premium tax (RN). These have their own registration processes and most small businesses never touch them.

Why the format matters. The GST/HST number you print on invoices is the full RT number, not the bare BN. Your payroll remittance vouchers carry the RP number. When the CRA writes to you, the letter shows which account it relates to by the identifier. Mixing them up — paying payroll deductions against the RT account, for example — is one of the most common reasons small businesses end up with a balance owing on one account and a credit on another.

Who needs a business number — and who doesn't

The CRA lists three groups that need a BN:

• businesses that need a GST/HST, payroll or other CRA program account;
• businesses that incorporate; and
• businesses that want to supply the federal government, because a Procurement Business Number builds on the BN.

That leaves a large group that doesn't need one yet. If you are a sole proprietor or a partner in a small partnership, earning under the C$30,000 small supplier limit, with no employees and no commercial imports, you can report your business income on your personal T1 return under your social insurance number. Many freelancers, tutors and side-hustlers stay in that position for years.

The trigger usually arrives in one of three ways. First, your sales pass C$30,000 in a calendar quarter or over four consecutive quarters, and you must register for GST/HST — see our GST registration guide. Second, you hire your first employee and need a payroll account before the first remittance is due; our payroll deductions guide covers that side. Third, a client or platform asks for a BN or GST/HST number before it will pay you. In each case you get the BN and the first program account in the same session.

Corporations don't have a choice. When you incorporate federally or in a partner province the corporation receives a BN and its RC account automatically. If you incorporate somewhere that doesn't issue BNs — Quebec, for example — you register the corporation with the CRA yourself.

How to get a business number through Business Registration Online

For Canadian residents with a valid social insurance number, the route is Business Registration Online (BRO), which lives inside your CRA account. BRO is reached only by signing in to your CRA account — with CRA credentials or a Sign-In Partner such as your bank login — and then adding a business account. You can't get a CRA account if you have never filed a tax return or if you have enhanced protection switched on, so sort that out first.

Getting a BN in Business Registration Online

1. 1

   Sign in to your CRA account

   Use CRA credentials or a Sign-In Partner. BRO requires a CRA account.

   Tip: Have your SIN and your last notice of assessment handy in case you need to verify identity.

2. 2

   Add a business account

   On the Welcome page choose + Add account, then Business account, then Register a business.

3. 3

   Enter the business details

   Legal and operating names, addresses, business type, owners' details and a description of your main activity with revenue split by product or service.

   Tip: The session times out after 10 minutes of inactivity and can't be saved partway, so gather everything first.

4. 4

   Choose the program accounts you need now

   GST/HST, payroll, corporation income tax, information returns and others can be added in the same session.

5. 5

   Save or print the confirmation

   Your BN and account numbers appear on screen immediately. The CRA does not mail or email them.

   Open the CRA registration page

What to have ready. The CRA asks for the name, title and phone number of each owner and their SINs; the legal name and any operating (trade) name; mailing and physical addresses; the type of business — sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, trust; a description of the main activity and the main products or services with an estimated share of revenue; and, for a corporation, the incorporation date, jurisdiction and certificate number. GST/HST and payroll accounts ask a few more questions, such as your expected sales, fiscal year-end and the date you'll first pay employees.

Timing. BRO is available every day except a maintenance window — daily except 3 am to 6 am ET. The BN is issued during the session.

Already have a BN? Use it. The CRA is explicit that you should not register a second BN if you incorporated federally, registered in a partner province, registered with the CRA before, or had a BRO session time out after the number was issued. Duplicate BNs are a nuisance to merge.

The November 2025 change: no more phone registrations

Until late 2025 many owners phoned the CRA and had an agent create the BN. From 3 November 2025, new BN and program account registrations must be done online, and calls to the business enquiries line about registering are redirected to BRO. If you read an older guide telling you to "just call the CRA", that advice is out of date.

When BRO won't work — Form RC1 by mail

BRO can't handle every case. The CRA lists these exceptions: reactivating a closed program account; registering a business owned by another business, such as a corporation or partnership; registering when the owner or a director has died and an estate is filing; registering a Canadian business whose owners are all non-residents; and the odd case where BRO won't accept your postal code. Directors, partners and trustees with a temporary SIN (starting with 9) also can't register for GST/HST in BRO, although a sole proprietor with a temporary SIN must use it.

In those situations you complete the relevant parts of Form RC1, Request for a Business Number and Certain Program Accounts, and mail it to your tax centre. RC1 covers the BN, GST/HST, payroll, corporation income tax, registered charity and information returns accounts; luxury tax and Underused Housing Tax use their own forms. Paper is slower than BRO, so if you need a number to issue an invoice, start early. Non-residents — a business incorporated or located outside Canada, or an owner without a SIN — follow the CRA's separate non-resident registration pages.

Ways to get a business number in 2026

Route	Who uses it	Speed
Business Registration Online	Most residents with a SIN	Instant
Provincial registration (AB, BC, MB, NB, NS, ON, PE, SK)	Sole props, partnerships and corporations registering with the province	Issued with the registration
Federal incorporation	Corporations Canada filers	Issued with the certificate
Form RC1 by mail	BRO exceptions (business-owned, estates, some temporary SINs)	Weeks, by post
Phone	No longer available since 3 November 2025	—

Business Registration Online

Who uses it

Most residents with a SIN

Speed

Instant

Provincial registration (AB, BC, MB, NB, NS, ON, PE, SK)

Who uses it

Sole props, partnerships and corporations registering with the province

Speed

Issued with the registration

Federal incorporation

Who uses it

Corporations Canada filers

Speed

Issued with the certificate

Form RC1 by mail

Who uses it

BRO exceptions (business-owned, estates, some temporary SINs)

Speed

Weeks, by post

Phone

Who uses it

No longer available since 3 November 2025

Speed

—

Provincial registration and your BN

You don't always have to go to the CRA. When you register a business name or incorporate in a partner province, the province asks the CRA for a BN on your behalf and the number comes back with your registration. The CRA lists Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island and Saskatchewan as provinces where you receive a BN this way. Federal incorporation through Corporations Canada works the same way and also opens the corporation's RC account.

In Newfoundland and Labrador, Quebec, Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, registering with the province or territory does not give you a BN. You register separately with the CRA through BRO.

Two provincial identifiers cause regular confusion:

• Ontario Business Identification Number (BIN). The Ontario Business Registry gives every registration its own Ontario number. It is not the CRA BN, and the CRA says it can't accept it in place of one. Our Ontario registration guide shows where each number appears.
• Quebec enterprise number (NEQ). Quebec's Registraire des entreprises issues the NEQ. Again, it isn't a BN, and Quebec businesses register for a BN separately. GST/HST and QST for businesses physically located in Quebec are administered by Revenu Québec rather than the CRA.

Provincial programs that use the BN. Because the BN is shared, several provincial programs either key their accounts to it or ask you to quote it — for example, provincial sales tax or workers' compensation registrations in some provinces, and provincial business registry filings. Once you have a BN, keep using that same number whenever a provincial form asks for it; don't let the province or an agent register a fresh one.

How to find your business number

BRO shows the BN once and doesn't send it to you, so it's easy to lose. The CRA suggests these places, in order:

1. Your own records — the saved or printed BRO confirmation, and any CRA letter or notice, which shows the BN and program account at the top.
2. Your CRA account — if you've added My Business Account, the BN is on the Welcome page. Our My Business Account guide explains how to link a BN for the first time; new BNs without a filing history can be linked within 28 days.
3. Your provincial or territorial online account, if your province issued the BN.
4. Public registries — Corporations Canada for federal corporations, the Ontario Business Registry for Ontario businesses (records may take a couple of business days to appear, and some searches carry a fee), and Canada's Business Registries, which covers federal corporations and corporations and limited partnerships in several provinces.
5. The CRA — call Business Enquiries at 1-800-959-5525 (1-866-841-1876 from the territories). You'll be asked to confirm details you gave at registration before an agent will read the number to you.

Accountants will also have it: anyone you've authorized as a representative can see your BN in Represent a Client.

Looking up someone else's business number

There's no public directory of every BN, and the CRA won't give you another business's number over the phone. What you can check:

• Corporations. Canada's Business Registries and Corporations Canada searches show the BN for many incorporated businesses, along with legal name and status. Sole proprietorships and trade names generally aren't included.
• GST/HST registration. If a supplier charges you GST/HST, the CRA's GST/HST Registry confirms whether their number was registered on the date of your transaction. You enter the first nine digits (no letters), the business name as shown on the invoice, and the transaction date, then print the result as proof. Our GST number lookup guide walks through it and explains the invoice rules.
• QST numbers are checked on Revenu Québec's site, not the CRA's.

If a supplier hasn't given you a number and you need one, ask them. A legitimate GST/HST registrant must put the number on invoices above certain amounts, so a missing number is a reason to check before you claim input tax credits.

From first sale to a full set of CRA accounts

Step 1

Start as a sole proprietor (SIN only)

Step 2

Sales pass C$30,000

BN + RT0001

Step 3

First employee

add RP0001

Step 4

Incorporate

new BN + RC0001

Worked example: one business, three stages

Stage 1 — freelancing, no BN. Amira starts a web design business in Calgary in January under her own name. She earns C$18,000 in her first year, has no staff and charges no GST. She reports the income on form T2125 with her T1 return using her SIN. She doesn't need a BN, and registering one just to "look official" would add nothing.

Stage 2 — GST/HST and a BN. In the second year a large contract brings her to C$11,000 of sales in April–June alone, and her four-quarter total passes C$30,000 at the end of September. She must register for GST/HST. She signs in to her CRA account, opens BRO, and in about 20 minutes receives BN 7xxxxxxx and GST/HST account RT0001. She prints the confirmation, adds her RT number to her invoice template and starts charging 5% GST. Registration cost: nothing.

Stage 3 — payroll. In year three she hires a part-time developer. Back in BRO, she adds a payroll account (RP0001) to the BN she already has — she does not create a new BN. Her remittance vouchers now carry the RP number, and her GST/HST returns keep using RT0001.

Stage 4 — incorporation. In year four she incorporates in Alberta. The corporation is a new legal person, so the province's registration produces a new BN with a corporation income tax account (RC0001). She registers the corporation for GST/HST and payroll under that new BN, moves clients over, then closes the GST/HST and payroll accounts on her personal BN once the sole proprietorship stops trading. Our incorporation guide covers the rest of that switch.

Before you open BRO

0/8

• CRA account working (CRA login or Sign-In Partner)
• SIN, name, title and phone for every owner
• Legal name and any trade name exactly as registered
• Physical and mailing addresses
• One-line description of the main activity and revenue split by product or service
• Incorporation date, jurisdiction and certificate number (corporations)
• Which program accounts you need now: GST/HST, payroll, information returns
• Somewhere to save or print the confirmation

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Common mistakes and how to fix them

Registering a second BN. It usually happens after a BRO timeout or when a provincial registration and a CRA registration both create one. If you discover two, call Business Enquiries; don't file under both. Before registering, always check your records and CRA account for an existing number.

Quoting the BN where the full account number is needed. On invoices, quote the GST/HST number (BN + RT0001). On payroll remittances use the RP number. Payments sent to the wrong account sit there until you ask the CRA to transfer them.

Paying a "registration service". The BN is free. Paying a website C$100 or more to file the same BRO registration only makes sense if you value the hand-holding.

Using the Ontario BIN or Quebec NEQ. Neither works on CRA forms. If a CRA form rejects your number, check you aren't entering a provincial identifier.

Leaving accounts open after you stop. If you close the business or incorporate, close the GST/HST and payroll accounts on the old BN. An open account can keep generating filing obligations and penalties for nil returns you didn't file.

Losing the confirmation. BRO won't send the number. Screenshot or print it before you close the browser.

What to do next

If you're about to cross the GST/HST threshold, read our GST registration guide and register through BRO the same day. Once you have a BN, link it to My Business Account so you can file and pay online, and use our invoice generator to put the correct RT number on every invoice. If you're still choosing a structure, our Canada business registration guide compares the options by province.

Official links

• CRA — Register as a resident with a Canadian business (BRO)Get a BN and program accounts online
• CRA — Program accounts you may needFull list of RT, RP, RC, RZ and other identifiers
• CRA — Do you need a business number?Who needs one; provinces that issue BNs
• CRA — Ways to find an existing business numberLost BN
• CRA — Confirming a GST/HST account numberGST/HST Registry
• CRA — Form RC1Paper request when BRO can't be used

This is general information, not legal or tax advice — confirm on the official source or with a professional.

Frequently asked questions

What is a business number in Canada?

A business number (BN) is the nine-digit identifier the Canada Revenue Agency gives a business or legal entity. On its own it is just an identifier; your tax accounts hang off it as program accounts, such as 123456789 RT0001 for GST/HST. Several provinces and federal departments use the same BN, so one number follows the business across governments.

How much does a CRA business number cost?

Nothing. The CRA does not charge to issue a business number or open program accounts like GST/HST or payroll. You register online through Business Registration Online inside your CRA account. Websites that charge for a BN are private filing services, not the government, and the registration they file is the same one you can do yourself in about 20 minutes.

Do I need a business number as a sole proprietor?

Only when you need a CRA program account. An unincorporated business needs a BN to register for GST/HST, to open a payroll account when it hires, or to import commercially. A freelancer under the small supplier limit with no staff can report income on a T1 return using a social insurance number and never need a BN.

How do I find my CRA business number?

Check your BN confirmation, CRA letters and notices, or the Welcome page of your CRA business account. Federal corporations can search Corporations Canada, and Ontario businesses can search the Ontario Business Registry. If none of that works, call CRA Business Enquiries at 1-800-959-5525 and be ready to confirm the details you gave when you registered.

Can I look up another company's business number?

Partly. Canada's Business Registries and Corporations Canada show the BN of many corporations, and the CRA's GST/HST Registry confirms whether a supplier's nine-digit number was registered for GST/HST on a given date. There is no public list of every sole proprietor's BN; ask the supplier for it and verify it in the registry.

Is a business number the same as a GST number?

No, but they share digits. The BN is nine digits. Your GST/HST account number adds the program identifier RT and a four-digit reference, so it reads 123456789 RT0001. A business can have a BN without a GST/HST account, but never a GST/HST account without a BN.

Is the Ontario BIN or Quebec NEQ my business number?

No. Ontario's Business Identification Number and Quebec's enterprise number (NEQ) are provincial identifiers, and the CRA says it cannot accept either one in place of a BN. Ontario registrations usually come with a CRA BN as well, but in Quebec you register for a BN separately with the CRA.

Sources & verification

Figures on this page were checked against the sources below when it was last reviewed on 11 October 2026. Each rate and limit is stored once with its own official source and review date, and official update channels are monitored daily so changes are picked up. How we verify

1. 1.You need a business number or a program account — Canada Revenue Agency · accessed 11 October 2026
2. 2.Program accounts you may need — Canada Revenue Agency · accessed 11 October 2026
3. 3.Register as a resident with a Canadian business — Canada Revenue Agency · accessed 11 October 2026
4. 4.Businesses: Go online to register for a business number or CRA program account — Canada Revenue Agency · accessed 11 October 2026
5. 5.Gather your information — Canada Revenue Agency · accessed 11 October 2026
6. 6.Ways to find an existing business number — Canada Revenue Agency · accessed 11 October 2026
7. 7.Confirming a GST/HST account number — Canada Revenue Agency · accessed 11 October 2026
8. 8.How to register for a business number or CRA program accounts — Canada Revenue Agency · accessed 11 October 2026