The decision behind incorporation, one owner or two, one share class or more, holding company or not, is what shapes the company. DRG Law writes that decision before the form is filed.
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Corporate decisions
Ontario adds tens of thousands of new corporations every year. The structural decision behind each one, share class, holding company, partner rules, is set before the form is filed, and very hard to change after.
Most owners arrive at incorporation already convinced they want a company. The question that actually matters is how to set it up: who controls the shares, what each class of share does, whether a holding company sits on top, and how a future partner gets in or out. DRG Law writes the structural decision before the form is filed.
The decision
The four decisions below are the ones that change the corporate structure most. Each one is easier to set right at the start than to fix later.
A single-owner corporation is the simplest setup. Adding a co-owner later means amending the share register, drafting a shareholders' agreement, and changing the rules everyone signed up to. DRG Law writes the agreement before the second owner joins.
A single class of common shares fits most one- and two-owner companies. Multiple share classes, voting, non-voting, preferred, redeemable, make sense when a holding company sits on top, when a family member holds shares without running the business, or when an investor needs a different return profile.
A holding company over an operating company creates a structure for moving cash up, isolating risk, and planning succession. The holding company is set up before the operating company starts generating retained earnings; setting it up after costs more.
The shareholders' agreement is the rulebook between the owners: who decides what, what happens if someone wants out, who can sell shares to whom. DRG Law writes the agreement before the share certificates are issued.
How DRG Law writes it
Every corporate file starts with a one-page structural note before any government form is filed. The note names the decision and the structure that follows from it.
One page that names the decision (one owner or two, share class structure, holding company yes/no) and what each option means for tax, future partners, and family planning.
Written before the share certificates are issued. Covers control rules, what happens on exit, share transfer restrictions, and decision rules for big questions.
Founding resolutions, share certificates, share register, directors' register, and officers' register populated at the start. The minute book exists from the first day, not built three years later under audit pressure.
Common questions
Incorporate when one of three things is true: your revenue is high enough that keeping money inside the company saves you tax, a partner is joining, or a customer or landlord is asking for a company on the other side of the contract. If none of those apply, staying as a sole proprietor is fine.
A holding company makes sense when the operating company will generate retained earnings the owner wants to keep aside from operating risk, when more than one operating company is on the horizon, or when family or succession planning needs a place to hold shares outside the business that runs day to day.
The government filing itself is a small fixed fee. The legal work, the structural decision, the shareholders' agreement, and a complete minute book on day one, is quoted in writing before the file opens, against a defined scope.
The share register, the shareholders' agreement, the directors' register, and the company's official records all change. The earlier the second owner's role is named, the lower the cost of writing them in.
Next step
Most structural problems are easier to write right at the start than to fix later. Send the decision in front of you, incorporation, partner change, share work, and Damaris reads it before any document moves.