Business Number

The Business Number is a number you are assigned when you register to do any business with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), such as registering for the GST/HST or filing corporate income tax.

This single Business Number replaces the numbers that Canadian businesses previously needed to deal with the federal government. If you had accounts with the Canada Revenue Agency before the Business Number came into effect, your GST/HST number became your Business Number.

The Business Number includes four common CRA accounts; corporate income tax; import/export; payroll deductions; and the goods and services tax/harmonized sales tax (GST/HST).

You can register for the Business Number by phone, by fax, by mail, via the Internet, or in person. The relevant CRA form is RC1, Request for a Business Number (BN). There is a link to this "Request For A Business Number Form" in my Tax Information Library.

Note that "If your business is in Quebec, the Business Number does not include your GST/HST accounts. The Ministère du Revenu du Québec (MRQ) administers GST/HST for the CRA. If you plan to register only for the GST/HST in Quebec, you do not need to complete Form RC1 Request for a Business Number (BN)" (The Business Number and Your CRA Accounts). Instead, you will need to contact the MRQ, which may be reached by phone at 1-800-567-4692.