What to Do with Your Business Mail When You Close Your Physical Office
Keep your Montreal business reachable after its office closes with a practical plan for mail, registries, tax accounts, records and verification.
The day you hand back the keys is not the day senders stop using the old address. A missed government notice, legal document, payment or client record can create deadlines and recovery work after the move.
This guide covers a business that continues after its physical office closes. A dissolution, liquidation or final tax filing follows a different process.
For a disputed service address, corporate filing or records-retention question, have a lawyer, notary or accountant review the applicable rule and facts.
Executive Summary
Inventory every address role before the move. Choose a truthful replacement for each role, order eligible postal forwarding early, update source records, protect sensitive mail, and verify each result. Keep one evidence register with the owner, submission date, effective date, confirmation and follow-up check. Forwarding catches only eligible items and does not correct any registry, tax account, bank record or platform profile.
2727 Coworking space, 2727 Saint-Patrick, Montreal
The Moment the Lease Ends, Your Mail Problem Begins
Treat mail continuity as a workstream with an owner, deadlines and evidence. Equipment removal and lease handback do not update a sender's records.
What "closing the office" actually means for mail
When the lease ends, mail does not automatically redirect. Items may continue to follow the old delivery route unless the sender corrects its record or an eligible forwarding service applies. Arrange the transition before access to the old office ends.
Canada Post business mail forwarding covers only eligible mail and only for the period purchased. It is a buffer, not a substitute for correcting every source record. Build the permanent plan before you hand back the keys.
The scope of this guide is "business continues, physical office closes." Not dissolution. The mail problem is different when the company itself keeps operating, because the registries, compliance obligations, and banking relationships stay live and keep generating correspondence that needs to reach you.
The four categories of mail that cause real damage when they go missing
Not all business mail carries the same risk. Some of it is annoying to miss. Some of it is genuinely costly. The four categories that can cause real harm if they go to an old address are:
Tax and government correspondence. Assessment notices, audit letters and account correspondence can carry response or payment dates. The effect of missing one depends on the document and governing rule. Route it for review immediately rather than assuming the deadline waits until someone opens the envelope.
Legal documents. A registered office is an official service point, so an obsolete entry can delay the company's response to important documents. Whether a particular delivery constitutes valid service depends on the governing statute and procedural facts. The safe operational rule is to update the office promptly and keep proof of acceptance.
Banking and financial mail. An institution may use different records for statements, cards, credit or operational contacts. Identify the fields that point to the old office and verify the result through the institution's current process.
Client and vendor mail. Review counterparties that send contracts, invoices, purchase orders, cheques or physical goods. Correct their source records and give them the destination appropriate to the item type.
Why the "I'll just forward everything" plan falls apart
Canada Post business mail forwarding sounds like the complete solution. It is not, and the limitations matter enough to address directly before anything else.
Canada Post's forwarding service covers eligible Lettermail, domestic Registered Mail and magazines. It does not cover parcels or prepaid envelopes.[1] Sender instructions and other exclusions may also prevent forwarding.
Canada Post identifies an address used by more than two businesses and mail received through a privately administered mailbox company among its ineligible examples.[1] Apply that test to the exact postal address printed on the mail, not to an entire building or postal code.
The suggested workflow uses forwarding as a buffer while source records are corrected. Review or extend it before the purchased four-month or twelve-month period expires.
Before You Hand Back the Keys
Complete the inventory while the business still controls the old mailbox, premises and account records.
The pre-departure mail audit
Before your last day in the space, go through the mailbox and sort everything into four categories: keep and act on, forward to the new address, return to sender, and shred. Do not leave anything in the mailbox for the next tenant to deal with.
Separately, document every government record where an address appears. Depending on the entity, this can include CRA My Business Account, Revenu Québec, the Quebec enterprise register and Corporations Canada. Do not assume an update propagated. Verify the resulting fields in each relevant system.
Screenshot each account's registered address before you leave the space. This gives you a baseline to work from and evidence of what was on file at the time of the move, which can matter if a dispute arises later about whether a notice was sent to a valid address.
Label each field by role. A registered office, Quebec domicile, elected domicile, CRA physical address and mailing address do not have the same meaning. The business-address guide explains those distinctions. Record the old value, intended new value and authority for each change.
Build a sender and address-role matrix
Create one row for every system, sender and recurring delivery channel. Suggested columns are: legal entity or operating name, address role, old address, intended address, governing rule or contract, owner, submission channel, actual change date, confirmation, verification date and residual-mail result. Add a separate row when one organization maintains several roles. For example, CRA distinguishes physical, mailing and books-and-records addresses, while a bank may maintain entity, statement and card-delivery information.
Prioritize rows by consequence and lead time. An official service address, tax portal, payroll account, insurer or lender deserves earlier review than a marketing directory. A supplier that sends parcels needs direct correction because Canada Post forwarding does not cover parcels. A sender that uses an old operating name also needs a name correction, not merely a new street line.
Use a controlled status vocabulary such as inventoried, submitted, confirmed, verified and residual mail received. A submission is not the same as a verified result. If an envelope still arrives with the old address, reopen that sender's row, capture the return address and account reference, and correct the source. This turns residual mail into a finite correction queue rather than an unexplained pile.
Address role
What it represents
Closure question
CRA physical address
Where day-to-day activities take place
Where does the business actually operate after the move?
CRA mailing address
Where CRA sends physical correspondence
Who can reliably receive and escalate mail?
CRA books-and-records address
Where the relevant records are kept
Did the records location change with the office?
Quebec domicile
For a legal person, the head-office address
Is the new location valid for the entity's domicile?
Quebec elected domicile
The mandatary and destination for documents under Quebec enterprise-publicity law
Does the mandate and delivery arrangement remain current?
Federal registered office
The statutory office in the province or territory named in the articles
Did the actual registered-office address change?
Google operating location
A customer-facing location meeting Google's eligibility rules
Does the business operate, receive customers and staff the location as required?
CRA defines its three address roles in its change guidance.[23] Quebec describes domicile and elected domicile separately.[17] Federal-office attributes and Google eligibility come from their respective official guidance.[21][31]
Order forwarding early enough to activate
Forwarding cannot recover items already delivered before the service begins. Set the requested start date for the move and order with enough lead time for activation.
You can place a business order online or at a post office. Canada Post offers four-month and twelve-month moving periods for businesses and permits an extension when it is purchased before the current service expires. Order early. The detailed Canada Post guide specifies ten business days for an online small-business order and three business days for a post-office order.[6] A suggested thirty-day lead leaves time to resolve identity, authority or address-eligibility problems.
Keep the order confirmation, start date and service reference in the transition register. Forwarding remains a buffer while the business corrects sender records.
For businesses that used a Montreal mailbox or virtual address at the office location, obtain the provider's written terms for mail arriving after service ends. Do not rely on an informal promise from a former landlord or new occupant.
Update your team's contact information immediately
On the day you move out, or ideally the day before, update every public-facing contact record that shows your old address. This includes every team member's email signature, voicemail greeting, LinkedIn profile, website contact page, and Google Business Profile.
An outdated Google Business Profile can direct prospective clients to a space you no longer occupy. Update or hide the address according to Google's eligibility rules, not merely according to the address used in a registry.
Treat Google Business Profile as a separate operating-location record. Google says a business that rents a physical mailing address but does not operate there is ineligible at that location. A coworking office qualifies only when it has clear signage, receives customers and is staffed by the business during stated hours.[31] A mail-only address is therefore not a substitute for an eligible customer-facing location. Service-area businesses that do not receive customers should follow Google's service-area rules rather than displaying a mailbox address.
2727 Coworking space, 2727 Saint-Patrick, Montreal
Canada Post Business Mail Forwarding: The Full Picture
What Canada Post will forward from a business address
Canada Post's forwarding service is useful, but narrower than many businesses assume.[1]
Canada Post identifies eligible Lettermail, domestic Registered Mail and magazines. Parcels and prepaid envelopes are not forwarded.[3] Its limitations page lists additional exclusions, including certain shared-address and private-mailbox situations.[1]
The postal service used determines eligibility, not simply the contents or apparent size. A contract sent as eligible Lettermail may be forwarded; a contract sent as a parcel or prepaid envelope will not. Correct parcel and courier delivery addresses directly.
The shared-address trap that catches coworking tenants
The restriction concerns a shared postal address, not automatically every tenant in a multi-unit building. More than two businesses is Canada Post's example, not a guarantee of eligibility when only two businesses share an address. Ask Canada Post to assess the actual unit and delivery arrangement. Canada Post separately excludes mail handled through a privately administered mailbox company. Ask Canada Post to assess the exact old address before relying on forwarding.
If the exact old postal address is ineligible, update source records directly instead of treating forwarding as a buffer. A replacement virtual mailbox for a Montreal business may provide stable delivery, but its own terms and the receiving authority's rules still apply.
Service periods and extensions
For a permanent business move, Canada Post sells four-month and twelve-month service periods. An extension must be completed before the current service expires.[4] That possibility should not become a reason to leave source records wrong: some mail is never eligible, senders may prohibit forwarding, and a later extension can be forgotten.
Set review dates thirty, ninety and 180 days after the move. Use each forwarded envelope as evidence that one source record still needs correction. Before the purchased period expires, review the service and extend it only if residual mail justifies the cost. The permanent solution is accurate source records plus a reliable delivery address for each legitimate role.
The CRA Address Update: What to Do and in What Order
Why CRA address updates are not one action
CRA records more than one address role, and the change must be checked across every relevant business account. Its guidance distinguishes physical, mailing and books-and-records addresses.[23]
A typical incorporated business might have corporation income tax, GST/HST and payroll program accounts under one Business Number. Inspect what the portal shows for each relevant account instead of assuming one edit propagated everywhere.
The relevant program accounts depend on the business. Inspect the account list, submit the available change and verify each resulting view. Do not infer the number of actions from team size.
CRA says to notify it as soon as possible. Give the change an owner and verify the displayed result after submission.[23]
How to update your CRA address
Online through My Business Account. Review the Manage Addresses functions and save the confirmation. Only an owner or an authorized representative with level 2 or 3 authorization can change an address online.[24]
By an available assisted or written channel. Use the current contact instructions on CRA's page. Contact details and processing times change. Keep the request, proof of authority, submission date and later verification together.
After making the available address change, inspect every relevant program account and save the confirmation. A timestamped submission plus the later displayed result provides better evidence than a checklist alone.
What CRA accepts as a new business address
CRA distinguishes mailing, physical, and books-and-records addresses. Its physical-address field must represent the location where day-to-day activities take place and cannot use a rural route number or post office box.[23] A mailing address may be different. Update each role truthfully instead of looking for one label that covers all three.
A virtual mailbox address can be a useful mailing destination because it provides a civic delivery address. That does not make it the place where day-to-day activities occur. Use it for a CRA mailing field when the arrangement supports reliable delivery, and report the genuine operating location in the physical field. A provider agreement also does not guarantee acceptance by a bank, platform, regulator or registry for another address role.
2727 Coworking space, 2727 Saint-Patrick, Montreal
The CRA Online Mail Transition
The delivery setting matters because an office closure changes both postal handling and responsibility for portal monitoring.
What changed in May and June 2025
CRA moved new business accounts to online mail by default on May 12, 2025, and transitioned eligible existing businesses on June 16, 2025.[25] Some correspondence and some businesses remain exceptions, so inspect the account rather than assuming that paper has stopped.
CRA considers online correspondence received on the date it is posted to My Business Account.[25] Portal monitoring therefore belongs in the closure plan even when no paper is expected.
An inactive notification email can leave online mail unread. CRA considers online correspondence received when it is posted to My Business Account.[25] The document itself determines any response or payment deadline.
What this means for businesses closing their office right now
A business closing its physical office in 2025 or 2026 needs to complete two steps at CRA, not one.
First, submit the applicable address change and verify the physical, mailing and records fields shown for every relevant program account.
Second, confirm that the email address registered in My Business Account is current and actively monitored. This is the email address CRA uses to notify you that new correspondence has been posted to your portal. If this email address was tied to an old office email domain, or to an account that a departing team member managed, it needs to be updated to an address someone checks regularly.
Missing either of these creates a gap. A correct physical address with a stale notification email means CRA can post documents to your portal without anyone knowing. A current notification email pointed at a My Business Account with a stale physical address means the next piece of paper CRA sends will still go to the wrong place.
An eligible business may request paper mail, but the request must be renewed every two years. Undeliverable paper can return the account to online delivery.[30] Online delivery also does not eliminate every physical item, so maintain both portal monitoring and a valid mailing route.
Combining the address roles
A virtual mailbox in Griffintown can provide a stable mailing address while working arrangements change. It is not automatically the CRA physical address. That field follows the actual location of day-to-day activity. The practical combination is a truthful physical address, a dependable mailing address, and an actively monitored email account for portal notices.
Federal Registered Offices: Business Corporations and Nonprofits
First identify the federal statute governing the entity. A business corporation under the Canada Business Corporations Act and a nonprofit under the Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act follow different office-change rules.
CBCA registered office requirements and the 15-day deadline
Under section 19 of the Canada Business Corporations Act, a federal business corporation sends notice of a registered-office address change within fifteen days.[19]
Corporations Canada's initial-office instructions explain that the office must remain in the province or territory named in the articles, cannot be a post office box, is public, and is an official service point. The CBCA also permits the records described in section 20 to be kept at another place in Canada designated by the directors.[21] Section 20 supplies the records-location rule.[19] Use the current change procedure for the later filing.
Why does it matter? The registered office is an official service point. Do not generalize that every item left at an old door is automatically valid service. The governing statute and procedural rules decide whether a particular notification was effective. The operational response is still the same: update promptly and preserve evidence.
The statute measures fifteen days from the actual registered-office address change. Record that date and preserve the supporting corporate record and filing confirmation.
Same-province versus cross-province moves
For a same-province change, follow the current Corporations Canada filing procedure and the corporation's internal authorization rules. Preserve the resolution or other authority with the filing confirmation.
A move to a different province changes the province stated in the articles and is more than an ordinary same-province address edit. Consult the current Corporations Canada procedure or counsel before the move.
Corporations Canada does not notify CRA
Do not assume a change filed with one authority corrected every other account. Verify Corporations Canada, CRA, Revenu Québec and the Quebec enterprise register independently.
Federal nonprofits follow a different statute. The Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act makes an office notice effective when the Director accepts it, and current Corporations Canada guidance says to file an office change immediately.[20][22] Do not import the business-corporation fifteen-day rule into that office-change requirement.
2727 Coworking space, 2727 Saint-Patrick, Montreal
Revenu Québec Address and Online Mail Updates
Why updating CRA is not enough in Quebec
Treat CRA and Revenu Québec as separate verification items in the transition register.
Revenu Québec instructs a business to notify it of an address change even when Canada Post forwarding is in place.[27] Check Revenu Québec separately after the CRA update.
A business with a relevant Revenu Québec account should inspect and update its information there.
How to update Revenu Québec
Use Revenu Québec's current official change-of-address instructions and the channel available for the business. Do not rely on a saved menu path or contact schedule, since portal navigation and service hours can change.
Update the applicable address and contact fields, then inspect My Account for Businesses. Revenu Québec says an online communication is considered received as soon as it is sent to that account.[28] Assign portal monitoring to a role, not to an employee who may leave during the transition.
NEQ update: the Quebec Enterprise Register
Quebec's enterprise-publicity statute distinguishes domicile, elected domicile and establishments. A current updating declaration is generally due within thirty days of a change, subject to statutory exceptions and any shorter period imposed elsewhere.[15] A Quebec business corporation must declare a head-office address change, and its head office remains in Quebec.[16]
Use the Registraire des entreprises' current instructions to file the applicable current updating declaration. Save the submission and verify the public record after processing.
Do not replace every Quebec field with the same address mechanically. For a legal person, domicile means the head-office address. Elected domicile identifies the mandatary and destination for documents under Quebec enterprise-publicity law. An establishment is another concept.[17] If the business continues, update current information. Cancellation of registration concerns an enterprise that ceases activities or is no longer required to register, and is not the same event as merely closing an office.[18]
Banking, Insurance, and Vendor Notifications
Financial institutions
Each bank or credit union where your business holds accounts maintains its own address record. Updating CRA does not notify your bank. Updating your bank does not notify CRA. These are independent updates.
For each financial relationship, identify the legal-entity, mailing, card-delivery and contact fields the institution maintains. Use its current change process, then verify that the business record changed without unintentionally altering an individual's personal record.
Business credit card issuers, equipment lenders, and any financing arrangements your business has all maintain separate address records as well. A renewal card mailed to a closed office is a practical problem. A loan default notice mailed to a closed office is a more serious one.
Insurance and professional associations
Your business liability insurance policy lists a registered address, and that address is relevant to claims processing and policy renewal. Contact your broker or insurer directly to update the registered address on the policy. Do not assume the insurer will pick up a GBP or NEQ address change on their own.
If a regulated professional or business has an address on file with an order or licensing body, review that record and the body's change procedure. Record the confirmation with the other updates.
Key vendors and clients
If any clients pay by paper cheque, notify them of the new mailing address immediately. Track cheques that have not been received and reconcile them with the payer before arranging replacement, so the same payment is not processed twice.
For vendors that send invoices by mail, update your contact record with each of them. For subscription services that mail physical items (industry publications, document courier services, anything that ships regularly), update each separately.
Review return-address stock, prepaid reply envelopes and shipping-account templates already in circulation. Replace or retire items that would route a response to the closed office.
2727 Coworking space, 2727 Saint-Patrick, Montreal
For Solo Founders and Freelancers
If you are a solo founder or freelancer closing your office, the mechanics are simpler than for a multi-person team. That simplicity can be a liability as much as an advantage, because there is no team member to catch what you miss.
Why the solo closure is the least complex but has its own risks
A sole proprietor and a one-person corporation can have different tax accounts, registrations and legal address roles. Build the checklist from the actual entity and accounts.
The checklist below works for a founder managing the move alone and for a small team that can assign one transition owner. The number of people changes routing and access, but it does not change the need for one authoritative register of updates.
The solo mail solution stack
Step one: check eligibility and order an appropriate four-month or twelve-month Canada Post moving period early.
Step two: log into CRA My Business Account, make the applicable change, verify every relevant program-account view, and confirm the notification email.
Step three: inspect the GST/HST, payroll and income-tax program views that apply to the business. Verify the resulting address fields rather than assuming what changed.
Step four: if registered in Quebec, identify which register fields changed and file the appropriate current updating declaration within the applicable period.
Step five: if the entity is a federal business corporation, file the registered-office change within fifteen days. If it is a federal nonprofit, follow the separate immediate-filing rule.
Step six: update banking, insurance, and key vendor contact records.
Step seven: evaluate a virtual mailbox as a mailing destination. Test every other proposed address role separately.
When using a home address creates new problems
A home address may be valid for a particular role when the governing rule and the underlying facts allow it. Check the specific field before using it, and consider the delivery, public-disclosure and household-access consequences.
Quebec's NEQ registry is publicly accessible. Any client, competitor, or curious party can look up your business address in the Registraire des entreprises du Québec. Listing your home address there is a personal privacy decision, not just a compliance decision.
Google Business Profile displays an address publicly when the profile is configured to show one. A mail-only virtual address is not eligible, and a coworking office must satisfy Google's signage, customer-access and staffing tests. A service-area business that does not receive customers can follow Google's instructions to hide its address. Our guide to Google Business Profile, Amazon and virtual addresses explains the separate platform tests.
For more on the specific considerations around home-based business addresses, the 2727 article on using a home address for business covers the full landscape.
For 2-4 Person Teams: Managing Multiple Recipients and the Shared Mail Problem
The multiple-recipient problem that solo solutions do not solve
When a team receives mail under several personal, legal or operating names, inventory each recipient included in the service. Forwarding covers only eligible mail addressed under the order's terms. The team also needs a routing rule for the person who may open, scan, retain or escalate each item.
The practical problem is who receives the mail, who opens it, and who routes it to the right person. In an office, this happened naturally. In a distributed or remote setup, it requires an explicit decision about where mail lands and who handles it.
A virtual mailbox for your Montreal team can centralize eligible mail, but plan terms decide whether contents are scanned, who may access them and how originals are collected. Match access to job responsibilities and keep an audit trail for sensitive documents.
The incorporated small team: your full registry update checklist
For a federally incorporated team operating in Quebec, build the inventory from the corporation's actual registrations and accounts.
Inventory Corporations Canada if applicable, the Quebec enterprise register, CRA, Revenu Québec, banks, insurers and contractual counterparties. The actual number of actions depends on the entity and accounts. Verify every resulting field instead of assuming a fixed count or automatic propagation.
The transition period plan: who owns the mail
Designate a mail owner for the transition. That person verifies forwarding, records each item and routes it to an authorized recipient. Provider access should follow job responsibilities and the service's actual permission model.
Set reviews at thirty, ninety and 180 days, plus a reminder before the purchased forwarding period expires. Every item bearing the old address identifies a sender record still requiring correction.
For teams that still need occasional physical presence, compare a day pass or flex desk in Griffintown with a meeting room or private office. Keep workspace choice separate from the mail-delivery and legal-address decisions.
2727 Coworking space, 2727 Saint-Patrick, Montreal
For 5-10 Person Teams: Building a Mail Protocol Your Whole Team Follows
Why individual solutions do not scale to a 10-person team
If you're leading a team of five to ten people, the mail transition is not a personal task. It's an operations task that requires a written protocol and a designated owner. Without one, the gap between "we said we would handle it" and "we actually handled it" tends to widen.
For a larger team, the main difference is coordination. The transition needs named owners, access controls and a documented escalation route so time-sensitive items do not depend on one person's inbox.
Existing office-mail responsibilities do not automatically define the new process. State who handles mail after closure and who provides backup coverage.
The team mail protocol: what it covers
If this is your team, your written mail protocol should specify: who is the designated mail handler, where is the Canada Post forwarding order directed, who has login access to the virtual mailbox if one is set up, who owns each registry update on the checklist and what the deadline is for each, and when the 90-day check-in happens to confirm everything is live.
Update the responsible person's scope explicitly. Provide only the credentials and document access needed for the role, plus the address register and escalation procedure.
For teams considering a lighter physical presence, compare a private office in Griffintown with day pass options. Check current terms, access and availability separately from the address transition.
The payroll address wrinkle
Payroll is a separate review item when the business has a payroll program account.
Inspect the payroll program-account view and correspondence settings after the change. Verify what CRA displays rather than assuming that an edit to another account or profile changed payroll information. Also confirm that access and notifications belong to a current authorized person.
When to choose a longer-term address
A shared virtual mailbox can reduce fragmented handling, but use it only for address roles the arrangement actually supports. Compare its limits with the team's mail types and approval requirements.
If the team still needs a daily hub, compare a private office with remote and occasional-space arrangements using current costs and actual attendance.
Evaluating a Virtual Mailbox After Office Closure
What a virtual mailbox actually does
A virtual mailbox is a contracted delivery and handling service at a civic address. Depending on the plan, a provider may notify the customer, scan contents or hold items for pickup. Never assume forwarding, parcel acceptance or signature service. Read the actual terms.
Its clearest role is mail delivery. Other roles require separate tests. A CRA physical address represents where daily activities happen. A federal registered office follows federal corporate rules. Quebec domicile and elected-domicile fields have different meanings. Banks and platforms make their own verification decisions. A civic address can fill more than one role only when both the underlying facts and the receiving authority allow it.
Why the address location matters: Griffintown specifically
Location matters mainly because someone must retrieve or process physical mail. Choose a Montreal address that is practical for the authorized people, stable for the expected subscription period and written consistently. Do not present the neighbourhood as proof that the business operates there. Verification depends on current, authentic records and on the address role being claimed, not on the prestige of a postal code.
What to compare when evaluating virtual mailbox providers
When evaluating any virtual mailbox service, confirm these specifics before signing up:
Street address versus box number. Ask explicitly whether the address provided is a real street address with a suite number, or whether it is a PO Box formatted as a street address. For government registry purposes, these are not the same thing.
Scan scope and timing. Determine whether the provider photographs the envelope or scans contents, how authorization is given, what page limits apply and when files become available.
Package handling. Confirm whether the provider accepts parcels, couriers or signature-required items, and how refusal, notification, storage and pickup work.
Authorized names. Government correspondence, legal documents, and financial mail is addressed to specific people or the specific legal name of the business. Confirm how many authorized recipient names the plan supports.
How 2727 fits this transition
2727 Coworking is at 2727 Rue Saint-Patrick, Suite 109, Montréal, QC H3K 0A8. As of October 2026, its plans start from CAD $35 per month for Mailbox, $85 for Mailbox + Scanning, $135 for Virtual Address and $165 for Virtual Office, all before GST and QST. Check live plans and availability before subscribing.
Use the company name, then 109-2727 Rue Saint-Patrick, Montréal QC H3K 0A8. There is no separate mailbox number and no reception. One company requires one plan. The mailbox accepts standard letter mail up to approximately 500 g, within large-envelope size. Every envelope is photographed and the client is notified. Scanning begins with the $85 plan and covers up to fifteen pages per document, then costs $0.15 per additional page. Mail is held for six months. Only authorized names may collect. Pickup is by appointment with photo ID, Monday to Friday from 8:00 to 12:00 and Saturday from 9:00 to 11:00. There is no forwarding. Parcels and signature-required mail are refused for mailbox clients. Registered mail and bailiff service are accepted only for private-office tenants.
2727 provides a signed agreement naming the company, full civic address and start date. Banks and platforms apply their own verification. Plans can be changed or cancelled effective at the end of the paid period.
2727 Coworking space, 2727 Saint-Patrick, Montreal
Day Passes and Flex Desks: When You Still Need to Show Up
The partial presence problem
Some businesses closing their office still need occasional physical presence: a client meeting in a professional space, a document that requires in-person signing, a notarized document that needs to be picked up in person, or a package that requires a recipient to be on site. Fully remote does not solve these moments.
For occasional presence, compare a day pass or flex desk with meeting-room and private-office terms. Confirm booking availability for the dates that matter.
How a flex desk and a virtual mailbox work together
Mail service and workspace access solve different problems. A mailbox may receive only the item types stated in its terms. A day pass provides workspace under its booking rules. Neither one establishes that the mailbox is a permanent registered office, operating location or parcel destination.
Price the mailbox and workspace separately, including setup charges, taxes, pickup time and meeting-room needs. Compare that total with actual attendance rather than assuming one model is cheaper.
What to look for in a flex space in Griffintown
Choose occasional workspace by the trips the team and its visitors will actually make. Test transit, cycling, parking and accessibility for the relevant dates and users.
For occasional workspace, compare access hours, room availability, privacy, connectivity, cancellation terms and lead time. Verify each feature with the operator before relying on it for a client or deadline.
For a full overview of Montreal's coworking options and how Griffintown compares to other neighbourhoods for professional services teams, the 2727 coworking guide covers the landscape in detail.
When the Business Still Needs a Private Office
Test the replacement against actual work
A business may close one office and still need a daily team location. Treat the replacement-space decision as a separate project from preserving mail continuity.
A replacement office should be assessed on the team's actual work pattern, contract, access, mail handling and meeting needs. Do not let an urgent mail transition force a longer workspace commitment than the operating model requires.
Private office versus home office and virtual mailbox: the practical comparison
Compare a private office, home-based work and occasional workspace using measured attendance, privacy needs, equipment, meeting frequency, access, insurance, setup fees and notice terms.
A private office may combine workspace and some address services under one agreement. Compare the written inclusions, setup cost, notice, access and real attendance with the cost of distributed work and occasional rooms.
The address is also a factor, but each role needs its own test. An actual office may support an operating address when daily work occurs there. Federal and Quebec registries apply their respective rules, CRA distinguishes physical and mailing fields, and Google requires signage, customer reception and the business's own staff for a coworking office. Update and verify each system separately.
2727 Coworking space, 2727 Saint-Patrick, Montreal
The Master Checklist: What to Update, in What Order, by When
The 30-day timeline
The following is a suggested operating sequence. Statutory and contractual deadlines take priority over these planning ranges.
Item
Timing rule
Practical action
Canada Post business forwarding ordered online
Online small-business orders: ten business days after purchase; order thirty days ahead
Order early enough for the service to be active on the move date.[3][6]
Canada Post business forwarding ordered at a post office
Three business days after purchase
Bring the required identification and authority documents.[3][6]
Immediately; effective when the Director accepts the notice
Follow the nonprofit filing rule, not the CBCA fifteen-day rule.[20][22]
Quebec enterprise-register current update
Generally within thirty days, subject to statutory exceptions and shorter periods
Identify every changed field and file the applicable declaration.[15]
Days 1 to 2: Verify that the Canada Post service is active. Review CRA address roles and every relevant program-account view, then confirm the notification email. A federal business corporation files its registered-office change within fifteen days. A federal nonprofit follows the separate immediate-filing rule.
Days 3 to 7: Update Revenu Québec, then file the applicable Quebec enterprise-register change. The general current-update period is thirty days, subject to exceptions and shorter rules. Update financial institutions and customer-facing records. For Google Business Profile, update, hide or remove the address according to eligibility.
Days 8 to 30: Contact business insurance broker to update policy address. Update each professional association membership address. Notify accounts-receivable clients who pay by cheque. Update key vendor contact records. Update any subscription services that mail physical items.
The federal business-corporation filing has a fifteen-day statutory period. Quebec's general current-update rule is thirty days, subject to exceptions and shorter periods. Federal nonprofits use their separate immediate-filing rule. Other records can have contract-specific or document-specific deadlines, so the inventory must record each applicable rule.
The ongoing watch list after the move
Month 3: Confirm Canada Post forwarding is still active. Check My Business Account for any CRA correspondence posted since the move. Log in to Revenu Québec to confirm no new correspondence has been sent to the old address.
Month 6: Do a full registry sweep. Inspect Corporations Canada, every relevant CRA account view, Revenu Québec and the Quebec enterprise register. Confirm that each address role is correct.
Before forwarding expires: Review residual mail, correct remaining senders and extend the service before expiry if justified. Verify the appropriate address role in every relevant system.
Keeping a documented update record
For each registry you update, record: the registry name, the date you made the update, and the confirmation number or screenshot reference. Keep this record somewhere accessible to more than one person on the team.
CRA considers online correspondence received on the date it is posted to My Business Account.[25] A timestamped register shows what the business submitted and later verified. It does not decide every dispute, but it gives an adviser or authority concrete evidence to assess.
Retain the register with the underlying confirmations. It provides a dated record for an accountant, lawyer, authority or internal reviewer assessing what was submitted and when.
Common Questions, Honest Answers
Can I use a family member's address temporarily?
Only if that address truthfully satisfies the particular field and the family member agrees to the delivery and privacy consequences. A residential address may become public in a registry, while a mailbox address may fail a physical-location or platform test. Choose by address role and document the arrangement.
What happens if I miss the Corporations Canada 15-day deadline?
File the change promptly and obtain advice if an official document may have gone to the old office. Do not assume that every attempted delivery was valid or invalid. Preserve the filing confirmation, the old-office handback date and any evidence about mail received during the gap.
Does CRA auto-update when I update my NEQ?
Do not rely on it. Inspect CRA and the Quebec enterprise register after each submission and correct every relevant address role. Apply the same verification rule to Corporations Canada and Revenu Québec.
2727 Coworking space, 2727 Saint-Patrick, Montreal
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Canada Post forward all my business mail automatically when I close my office?
No. Canada Post identifies eligible Lettermail, domestic Registered Mail and magazines, while parcels and prepaid envelopes are excluded. Shared-address and privately administered mailbox restrictions can also apply.[1] Forwarding is a buffer, not a complete transition plan.
How long does Canada Post business mail forwarding last?
For a move, a business can buy four or twelve months. Canada Post says the service may be extended for another four or twelve months if the extension is completed before expiry.[2] Correct the underlying sender records even if you extend, because ineligible items will never follow the forwarding route.
Does updating my address with CRA update my address with Revenu Québec?
Do not assume it does. Review and verify the address in each relevant CRA and Revenu Québec account. Revenu Québec expressly says to report a business-address change even if Canada Post forwarding is active.[27]
Can I use a PO Box as my registered business address after closing my office?
It depends on the address role. CRA prohibits a post office box in its physical-address field, which represents where day-to-day activity occurs, but separately maintains mailing and books-and-records addresses. A federal registered office cannot be a post office box. A civic mailbox can be useful for delivery, but the street format alone does not prove that it is valid for every registry or operational role.
How soon do I need to update my federal corporate registered office after moving?
Under the Canada Business Corporations Act, a federal business corporation must notify Corporations Canada within fifteen days of a registered-office address change.[19] The office cannot be a post office box and must remain in the province or territory named in the articles. Federal nonprofits follow a different immediate-filing and acceptance rule.
What happens to CRA mail if I do not update my address?
Eligible existing businesses were transitioned to CRA online mail on June 16, 2025. CRA considers online correspondence received when posted to My Business Account.[25] Keep the notification email current and monitor the portal. Some correspondence and businesses remain exceptions, so also maintain a valid postal route.
Can I get a professional Montreal address without renting a full office?
Yes. A virtual mailbox service can provide a civic mailing address without a full office lease. Compare mail limits, scanning, pickup, forwarding, signature and parcel terms. Treat registry, tax, bank and platform acceptance as separate questions.
What is a virtual mailbox and how is it different from a PO Box?
A virtual mailbox uses a civic delivery address and a provider handles eligible mail under its contract. A post office box is a delivery point operated by Canada Post. Neither label decides every legal or platform question. Test the address against the exact role: mailing destination, registered office, Quebec domicile, elected domicile, physical operating location, books-and-records location or customer-facing premises.
Do I need to notify anyone about my employees' T4 addresses when I close the office?
Employee delivery information and the employer's business-account information are separate. Review the payroll account, mailing address and portal correspondence after the office move. Do not assume a change elsewhere corrected the payroll view.
Does a virtual mailbox address work for Google Business Profile?
No, not as a storefront listing. Google's guidelines say a business that rents a physical mailing address but does not operate there is ineligible at that address. A coworking office qualifies only with clear signage, customer reception and the business's own staff during stated hours.[31] A qualifying service-area business can follow Google's rules for hiding its address. Our guide to Google Business Profile, Amazon and KYC with a virtual address explains the separate tests.
When should I order Canada Post Mail Forwarding?
Canada Post recommends ordering thirty days before the move. Its detailed guide specifies ten business days for an online small-business order and three business days for a post-office order.[6][3] Treat those as earliest starts, not a reason to wait until the final week.
Can an employee buy Mail Forwarding for the company?
Access to the old office does not establish authority. Canada Post requires government photo identification and a legal document showing authority when someone buys forwarding for another person or business.[5] Its proof guidance requires evidence of corporate existence and signing authority, and lists a notarized authorization letter or notarized corporate resolution for third-party purchases.[6] Assemble the proof and record the service reference before the lease ends.
Does Canada Post forward parcels or prepaid return envelopes?
No. The service covers eligible Lettermail, domestic Registered Mail and magazines. Canada Post says parcels and prepaid envelopes are not forwarded.[3] Tell important parcel and courier senders the new delivery address directly.
Can Hold Mail bridge a short gap before the new address starts?
Sometimes. Hold Mail pauses normal delivery at an eligible address and requires advance purchase. It does not create a new destination, and Canada Post excludes mail received through a privately administered mailbox company.[7][9] Check eligibility for the exact address.
How many business names can a Hold Mail order cover?
Canada Post includes up to two business names and two individual names at the same location in the base fee. Up to four additional individual names can be added online for an extra fee.[8] Inventory legal names and operating names before ordering so a name is not omitted accidentally.
What happens to accumulated mail when Hold Mail ends?
Canada Post normally delivers held mail on the business day after expiry or cancellation. If the volume is too large, pickup may be required.[10] Assign a person to check the destination on that day.
Can someone else pick up company mail at the post office?
Canada Post offers a letter of authorization that permits a person to act for another person, business or organization at pickup.[11] Items sent using the Proof of Identity service can only be collected by the addressee, even with a letter of authorization. This is separate from a private mailbox provider's rules.
Should one replacement address be entered in every system?
No. Start with roles. CRA distinguishes physical, mailing and books-and-records addresses. Quebec and federal corporate records use their own legal concepts. Banks and platforms apply separate verification rules. One location may legitimately fill several roles, but only when the facts and the receiving system's rules support each use.
How should we protect mail containing personal information during the move?
For a Quebec private-sector organization, start with the applicable Quebec privacy duties. Use measures suited to the sensitivity of the information, restrict access, and assess any confidentiality incident under Quebec rules.[35] As supplemental federal guidance where applicable, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner recommends safeguards proportionate to sensitivity and access based on need to know.[12] A practical move protocol can use a locked transfer container, an access-controlled scan folder and documented destruction.
How long should scanned mail be kept?
Do not choose one arbitrary period for everything. Keep a document for its legal, tax, contractual or operational retention period, then destroy it securely. Privacy guidance says personal information should be kept only as long as required for its purpose, while Quebec guidance recognizes retention periods imposed by law.[13][34]
CRA's periods vary by record and circumstance. For an ongoing business, its general rule is six years after the end of the tax year to which the records relate. Different rules and exceptions apply to ended businesses, dissolved corporations, property records, late returns, objections and other legal requirements.[26] Revenu Québec says source-deduction and employer-contribution records generally remain for six years after the last year to which they relate, again with exceptions.[29] Have the accountant or counsel approve the schedule.
Is misdirected mail a privacy incident?
It can be. Assess what information was exposed, who received it, whether it was recovered and the risk of serious harm. Quebec guidance requires organizations to keep a register of confidentiality incidents involving personal information.[35] Escalate to the privacy lead rather than treating every returned envelope as ordinary administration.
What proof should we keep after every address update?
As a suggested workflow, keep the submitted form or confirmation, actual change date, account or registry affected, person who filed it, and a later verification screenshot or registry extract. This distinguishes submission from confirmation. Separately, federal privacy accountability guidance discusses documented policies, systems, procedures and access controls where that guidance applies.[14]
Will a mailbox agreement guarantee bank approval?
No. Financial institutions must verify identity and entity information under their own obligations and risk controls. FINTRAC guidance requires records used for verification to be authentic, valid and current.[32] A service agreement proves only what it says. Ask the institution which document and address role it needs.
Why might a bank ask for address evidence again later?
Reporting entities conduct ongoing monitoring and keep specified client and beneficial-ownership information current.[33] A later request does not mean the mailbox has universally failed. It means the institution is reassessing its current records under its own process.
Should the company invent a suite or mailbox number to look distinct?
No. Use only the civic and unit information genuinely assigned by the building or provider. An invented identifier can cause delivery failures and inconsistent verification. In French correspondence, the OQLF explains how an actual office or apartment number is presented in an address.[36]
Can we leave the old address on invoices until stationery runs out?
Replace digital templates immediately and stop issuing new documents with stale coordinates. Existing historical records should remain intact. For printed stock, use a controlled correction only if it remains clear and acceptable for the document, otherwise replace it. The objective is a clean effective date, not rewriting history.
What should we do with mail that arrives under an old trade name?
Add every current and recently used legal or operating name to the sender inventory and, where the service permits it, to the forwarding or pickup authorization. Log each arrival under an old name, identify the sender and correct that source. Do not assume a carrier or mailbox operator will infer that two names belong to the same entity.
How do we know the transition is finished?
Completion requires evidence: the key public registries show the intended address roles, tax portals show current information, banks and insurers acknowledge the change, customer-facing listings are accurate, and no unexplained old-address mail arrives during the agreed observation period. Keep ownership of the process open until those checks pass.
Conclusion
Closing an office while continuing the business is an address-control project. Start before the handback date, separate each address role, use postal forwarding only where eligible, and correct the records that cause mail to be sent. Assign a person to receive, classify and escalate each item, with privacy controls for sensitive information. Then verify the result in every relevant registry, tax portal, financial account and public profile.
A stable mailbox can support the mailing part of that system. It does not turn a mailing destination into an operating location or guarantee acceptance by a government, bank or platform. The transition is complete when the evidence register shows the right role in each system and residual mail no longer reveals an uncorrected sender.
2727 Coworking space, 2727 Saint-Patrick, Montreal
References
[1] Canada Post. Mail Forwarding service limitations.
[2] Canada Post. Mail Forwarding duration and extensions.
[3] Canada Post. Getting started with Mail Forwarding.
