Can a Quebec Nonprofit (OBNL) Use a Virtual Address as Its Head Office?
A Quebec OBNL can often use a virtual or coworking address as head office. What RE-303, the REQ, CRA, mail rules and AGMs require, and what to confirm.
Most small Quebec nonprofits start the same way: three or more founders, a mission, no premises, and a form that asks for the address of the head office. Putting a volunteer's home address on a public register is unattractive, and a commercial lease makes no sense for an organization with no staff. A virtual mailbox or coworking address looks like the obvious answer, and in many cases it is a workable one. But a nonprofit is not a sole proprietor buying a mailing address. Its head office is its legal domicile, the place where its books are meant to be kept, where a bailiff can deliver a lawsuit, where the default annual meeting is held, and the address that funders, banks, Revenu Québec and the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) will treat as the organization's identity. This guide goes through each of those roles for Quebec nonprofits constituted under Part III of the Companies Act, for federal not-for-profit corporations, for unincorporated associations and for registered charities, then turns the rules into a short list of questions to ask any address provider before you subscribe. It is current as of October 2026 and is general information, not legal advice.
Executive Summary
Under Quebec law, a legal person's domicile is "at the place and address of its head office"[1]. For a nonprofit constituted under Part III of the Companies Act, the application for letters patent must state "the place within Québec where its head office is to be situated" [2]. No provision we found forbids a commercial civic address with a unit or mailbox number, but the address has to work for every job the head office does.
RE-303 is real and current. It is the Demande de constitution en personne morale sans but lucratif, version 2023-06, and section 2 asks for "l'adresse complète du lieu au Québec où sera situé le siège" [3]. The quebec.ca page on constituting a nonprofit still prescribes it in 2026: you fill it on screen, print it, sign it and mail it with a sworn statement [4]. The form itself says the form, documents and payment "doivent être transmis par la poste" [3], and we found no online constitution service for Part III nonprofits.
Fees as of October 2026: $199 for constitution by letters patent (regular) or $298.50 (priority); the initial declaration is free if filed on time; the annual updating declaration is $41; a current updating declaration (such as a change of address within the same locality) is free; approving a by-law that moves the head office to another locality costs $67 [5].
The register distinguishes the domicile (head office) from the elected domicile, which is "the address to which documents must be sent" [6]. A nonprofit can declare an elected domicile and the person mandated to receive documents [7], which gives it a second way to use a mail-handling address.
Federal not-for-profit corporations need a registered office in the province named in their articles [8]. Corporations Canada says it "cannot be a post office box" and warns that documents sent there "will be assumed to have been received by the corporation" [9].
The CRA uses three address roles. The physical address "must be where the day-to-day activities take place", the mailing address can differ, and the books-and-records address must be reported if it is elsewhere [10]. A registered charity's books "must be kept at the Canadian address that you have on file with us" [11].
The biggest legal friction is books and records, not mail. Section 107 of the Companies Act requires every company (which includes Part III nonprofits) to keep its books and minutes "at its head office in Québec" [12]. A mailbox cannot do that for you. Plan for it before you choose.
Signature mail and bailiff service are the biggest practical friction. Many mailbox services refuse registered mail and parcels. Ask how the provider handles a bailiff and a registered letter before naming it as your head office.
The short answer, and the conditions behind it
Yes, a Quebec nonprofit can generally name a virtual or coworking address as its head office, provided four conditions hold.
The address is a real civic address in Quebec, with the unit or mailbox number the building actually uses. For a Part III nonprofit the head office must be in Quebec [2]; for a federal nonprofit it must be in the province named in the articles [8].
The provider authorizes that use in writing, in the organization's exact legal name, and the role is named: head office (siège), elected domicile, or mailing address only.
Official documents can actually be received there. That includes ordinary letters from the Registraire des entreprises, Revenu Québec and the CRA, but also registered mail and documents delivered by a bailiff. Under the Code of Civil Procedure, notification to a legal person "is made at its head office ... by leaving the document in the care of a person who appears to be in a position to give it to an officer or director" [13].
The organization has a plan for the things a mailbox cannot do: keeping the books and minutes the law ties to the head office, and holding meetings somewhere real.
The rest of this guide explains each condition with the legal text behind it. If your organization fails one of them, the usual fix is not to give up on the virtual address but to use it in a narrower role, such as the elected domicile or the CRA mailing address, and to keep the head office where the organization's records and activities actually are.
First, identify which kind of nonprofit you are
"OBNL" and "OSBL" are everyday labels, not legal forms. The address rules depend on the statute that created the organization and on any tax status layered on top of it. Most Quebec nonprofits fall into the first row below.
What you are
Created by
Address concept
Where the address is filed
Quebec nonprofit legal person (personne morale sans but lucratif)
Letters patent under Part III of the Companies Act
Head office (siège), which is the legal domicile
RE-303 application, then the REQ initial declaration and updates
Federal not-for-profit corporation
Articles under the Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act
Registered office in the province named in the articles
Form 4002 at incorporation, Form 4003 for changes; plus REQ registration if active in Quebec
Unincorporated association
A contract of association under the Civil Code
No legal personality; if registered, its domicile is its principal establishment, with an optional elected domicile (correspondence address)
Optional REQ registration
Registered charity
A CRA tax status on top of one of the forms above
Physical, mailing and books-and-records addresses
CRA My Business Account and the T3010 return
Nonprofit organization (NPO) for tax purposes
A tax category, not a legal form
Address as registered with the CRA
T1044 return (CRA), CO-17.SP (Revenu Québec)
Two points follow from this table. First, a registered charity is still a Part III or federal legal person, so it must satisfy both the corporate rules and the CRA's rules. Second, an unincorporated association is formed by a contract "to pursue a common goal other than the making of pecuniary profits to be shared among the members" [14]; it has no head office in the corporate sense. If it registers, the Registraire's guide asks for the address of its principal establishment as its domicile, describes the optional elected domicile as an "adresse de correspondance" and says neither the recipient's name nor the elected-domicile address can be declared alone [15].
The head office (siège) of a legal person without share capital
What the law says
The Civil Code of Québec states the core rule in one sentence: "The domicile of a legal person is at the place and address of its head office" [1]. Everything else follows from that. The head office is where the law presumes the organization can be found.
Part III of the Companies Act (in French, Loi sur les compagnies, partie III) is the statute under which most Quebec nonprofits are constituted. The enterprise registrar may grant letters patent "to any number of persons, not less than three, who apply therefor, for objects of a national, patriotic, religious, philanthropic, charitable, scientific, artistic, social, professional, athletic or sporting character, or the like, but without pecuniary gain" [16]. The application must set out, among other things, "the place within Québec where its head office is to be situated" [2].
Part III is short because it borrows most of its machinery from Part I, the part written for business companies. Section 224 applies the sections of Part I "with the necessary modifications, to every legal person incorporated or continued under the provisions of this Part", except for a list of exclusions [17]. The head-office rules are not on that exclusion list. That is why several provisions written for share-capital companies matter for your OBNL:
Section 32: the company "shall give notice of the address of its head office or principal establishment and of any change of address by filing a declaration" under the Act respecting the legal publicity of enterprises[18].
Section 87: the company may, by by-law, "transfer the company's head office to another locality within Québec", with a two-thirds vote at a special general meeting and a copy deposited with the registrar [19].
Section 107: the company "shall keep, at its head office in Québec, one or more books" recording receipts and disbursements, financial transactions, credits and liabilities, and "the minutes of the meetings of its shareholders and of its directors" [12]. For a Part III nonprofit, section 225 reads "shareholder" as a member of the legal person [17].
Section 98: if the by-laws are silent, the annual meeting is held at the place named as the head office, and "the annual meeting of the company shall be held in Québec at such place as its by-laws or constituting act provide". The same section lets a company that has not distributed securities to the public hold it outside Québec if its constituting act provides for it or all those entitled to attend consent [20].
"Lieu" versus "adresse": why the letters patent fix only the city
There is a subtle but useful distinction in the vocabulary. The Companies Act speaks of the place (lieu) of the head office. The Registraire's guide to RE-303 explains that "on entend généralement par lieu le nom de la ville, du village ou de la municipalité où sera situé le siège" [21]. The letters patent therefore lock in the municipality. The street address itself lives in the enterprise register, through the declarations described below.
This matters when you move. If the new head office is in the same municipality, you only update the register. If it is in a different municipality, you need a by-law approved by the members. The table below summarizes the two cases using the Registraire's own instructions [22] and fee schedule [5].
Move
What the law requires
Form or service
Fee (regular, October 2026)
New address, same municipality (for example, from a director's home in Montréal to a coworking address in Montréal)
Current updating declaration within 30 days
Online, Mon bureau
Free
New address in another municipality (for example, from Laval to Montréal)
By-law adopted by the directors and ratified by at least two thirds of members present at a special general meeting, or by a written resolution signed by all members; then update the register
RE-503 Règlement concernant la modification
$67 for approval of the by-law
The Registraire says it plainly: "Si le siège de l'entreprise est transféré à une adresse à l'intérieur de la même localité vous devez produire une déclaration de mise à jour courante pour déclarer le transfert du siège de l'entreprise" [22].
Head office, elected domicile, mailing address and establishment
These four ideas are often blurred, and the blur is where most address problems start.
Term
What it means
Who relies on it
Can a mailbox address fill it?
Head office (siège) / domicile
The legal domicile of the legal person; for legal persons, the register's "Adresse du domicile" is "the address of the head office" [6]
Courts, bailiffs, the Registraire, funders, the public
Possibly, if the four conditions above are met
Elected domicile (domicile élu)
"Address of the person mandated to receive enterprise documents ... This is the address to which documents must be sent" [6]
The Registraire and anyone sending documents under the legal-publicity Act
Yes, this is the most natural fit for a mail-handling service
Mailing address
Where correspondence is delivered; the CRA lets it differ from the physical address [10]
Tax authorities, banks, suppliers
Yes
Establishment / physical address
Where activities actually take place; for the CRA it "must be where the day-to-day activities take place" [10]
CRA, Revenu Québec, insurers, municipalities
Only if the organization really works there (for example, a staffed desk or office)
2727 Coworking space, 2727 Saint-Patrick, Montreal
RE-303 explained: applying for letters patent
What the form is
Prospective founders often ask whether "the RE-303" is the registration form or the head office form. It is neither, exactly: it is the application for constitution. The form's own heading is Demande de constitution en personne morale sans but lucratif, version RE-303 (2023-06), and the applicants state that they "désirent obtenir des lettres patentes les constituant en personne morale en vertu de la partie III de la Loi sur les compagnies" [3]. The companion guide, RE-303.G, says the form "s'adresse à toute personne qui désire constituer une personne morale sans but lucratif conformément à la partie III de la Loi sur les compagnies" [21].
As of October 2026, quebec.ca still tells founders to read the RE-303.G guide, complete the RE-303, fill it "à l'écran et l'imprimer avant de le signer", and include "une déclaration sous serment (incluse dans le formulaire RE-303)" [4]. The form must be mailed with the required documents and payment to the Registraire des entreprises, Services Québec, C.P. 1153, succursale Terminus, Québec (Québec) G1K 7C3 [3]. We found no online constitution service for Part III nonprofits; the online services in Mon bureau start after the letters patent are issued.
What the form asks, section by section
Section
What you provide
Address-related detail
Name
The proposed name, plus any version in another language
A name search report must be attached
1. Requérants
Name, profession and full address of every applicant; "Un minimum de trois requérants est requis" [3]
These are personal addresses of the applicants
2. Siège
"Inscrivez l'adresse complète du lieu au Québec où sera situé le siège de la personne morale" [3]
This is where a virtual address would go, with its unit or mailbox number in the "Appartement" field or as the provider instructs
3. Premiers administrateurs
At least three first directors, chosen among the applicants
Names only
4. Immeubles
A cap on immovable property or on the income from it
None
5. Objets
The objects of the organization, and the statement that it has no intention of making pecuniary gain
None
6. Autres dispositions
Optional extra provisions
None
Déclaration sous serment
One applicant's solemn affirmation, received by a person authorized to administer oaths; "Un requérant ne peut pas agir comme commissaire à l'assermentation" [3]
The declarant's address
Applicants must be at least 18 years old, and "pour que la demande soit valide, elle doit être présentée par au moins trois requérants âgés de 18 ans ou plus" [21].
The practical consequence: get the address before you mail RE-303
Because section 2 asks for the complete address, you need to know your head office address before you mail the form. If you plan to use a virtual or coworking address, sign the provider agreement first and confirm in writing that it authorizes use of the address as the head office of a nonprofit legal person. Changing the address a few weeks later is possible, but it costs you a second filing and creates a mismatch between your letters patent file and everything you set up in between (bank, CRA, funders).
Fees and timing
The Registraire's fee page for nonprofit legal persons lists, as of its 31 August 2026 update, $199 for constitution by letters patent at the regular rate and $298.50 for priority service [5]. Name reservation is optional and charged separately on the same schedule. Mail processing time varies; if a funding or banking deadline depends on your NEQ, the priority rate may be worth it.
After the letters patent: the initial declaration, domicile and elected domicile
The 60-day initial declaration
Once the Registraire deposits the letters patent, the organization is registered and receives its Quebec enterprise number (NEQ). The clock then starts. The Act respecting the legal publicity of enterprises says a legal person registered on the deposit of its constituting instrument "must file with the registrar, within 60 days after the date of registration, an initial declaration" [23]. Quebec.ca tells nonprofits to use the service Produire une déclaration initiale in Mon bureau[24], and the filing is free when made on time [5].
The initial declaration is where the full head office address is formally recorded in the register, alongside directors and officers, and where you decide whether to declare an elected domicile.
What the declaration contains
Section 33 of the legal-publicity Act lists the contents of a registration declaration. Beyond the name and domicile, it must state, "if applicable, (1) the domicile elected by the registrant and the name of the person mandated by the registrant to receive documents for the purposes of this Act" [7]. The same section exempts "non-profit legal persons established for a private interest" and "associations within the meaning of the Civil Code" from declaring ultimate beneficiaries [7]. In practice, a Part III nonprofit lists directors and officers, but not the ultimate-beneficiary information that share-capital companies must provide. For the general transparency rules that apply to companies and sole proprietors, our Quebec start-a-business guide covers them in detail.
Using the elected domicile on purpose
The elected domicile is underused by small nonprofits. The register describes it as the "address of the person mandated to receive enterprise documents ... This is the address to which documents must be sent" [6]. The Code of Civil Procedure also allows notification "at the addressee's elected domicile" [25].
That gives a nonprofit two clean configurations:
Configuration
Head office (siège)
Elected domicile
When it fits
A. Virtual address as head office
The provider's civic address under your organization's name (plus any mailbox number the provider assigns)
Optional; can be the same address or a director
No premises at all; the provider accepts head-office use and can receive official documents
B. Virtual address as elected domicile
Where the organization actually operates or keeps its records (for example, a partner's premises or a member's office)
The provider's address, with a named person mandated to receive documents
The organization has a real base but wants official mail handled by a staffed service
Configuration B is often overlooked. It can be the cleaner option when the provider is comfortable handling mail but not being anyone's legal head office, or when your books and records clearly live somewhere else. Either way, the name of the mandated person and the address are declared together. For how these register fields work for businesses, see our guide to business address, head office and elected domicile at the REQ.
Keeping the register current
Two recurring obligations depend on mail and attention.
Current updating declaration. The registrant "must update the information ... by filing an updating declaration within 30 days after the date on which any change occurs" [26]. Quebec.ca repeats the 30-day rule [27]. A change of head office address, a new director, or a new elected domicile all trigger it.
Annual updating declaration. Every registered enterprise must file one each year "even if they have no changes to make", and for legal persons the filing period is May 15 to November 15 [28]. It costs $41 for a nonprofit at the regular rate [5]. Quebec.ca warns that an enterprise that fails to file two consecutive annual declarations may have its registration cancelled, and that "the ex officio cancellation of the registration of ... a non-profit legal person constituted in Québec results in its dissolution" [28].
Dissolution for missed paperwork is the strongest argument for a mail setup that someone actually reads. Whatever address you choose, make sure the board knows who receives the Registraire's notices and who logs into Mon bureau.
2727 Coworking space, 2727 Saint-Patrick, Montreal
Moving an existing nonprofit's head office to a virtual address
Many organizations come to this question years after incorporation, typically when the founding director who hosted the head office at home moves away or steps down. The sequence is straightforward but has more steps than most boards expect.
Check the municipality. If the new address is in the same municipality as the current head office, the move is a register update. If not, you need a by-law under section 87 of the Companies Act[19].
If a by-law is needed, the directors adopt it and the members ratify it, either by at least two thirds of members present at a special general meeting called for that purpose or by a written resolution signed by all members, and the organization files form RE-503 with the Registraire [22]. The approval fee is $67 at the regular rate [5].
File the current updating declaration in Mon bureau within 30 days of the change [27]. It is free [5].
Update Revenu Québec separately. Revenu Québec says you must update the address "if you submit an address change to the Registraire des entreprises", and "even if you signed up for mail forwarding from Canada Post" [29]. Its options include My Account for businesses, form LM-1.AD-V, the phone, or the Changer d'adresse service in Zone entreprise, which notifies several departments and agencies at once [29].
Use Zone entreprise if you want one step. Quebec.ca says that "en une seule démarche, les entreprises peuvent faire leur changement d'adresse" with a list of bodies that includes the Registraire des entreprises and Revenu Québec, and that you need a clicSÉQUR Entreprises account [30]. The Service québécois de changement d'adresse is not an option: it "is for the general population", and businesses are sent to Zone entreprise instead [31].
Update the CRA, the bank, insurers, funders and Corporations Canada (if federal). None of them are fed automatically by the Quebec register. For charities, the CRA lets you manage addresses in My Business Account, and you must choose whether each change concerns the mailing, physical or books-and-records address [32].
Move the records. If the head office moves, the books that section 107 ties to the head office [12] need a new home too. See the section on books and records below.
Do not count on Canada Post to bridge the gap. Its Mail Forwarding service does not forward "mail received at a shared postal address (i.e. when the same address is used by more than 2 businesses)" or "mail through a privately administrated mailbox company" [33]. That cuts both ways: if you later leave a coworking or mailbox address, forwarding will not catch what still arrives there. Our guide to what happens to your business address if you cancel a coworking membership covers the exit side.
Federal nonprofits under the Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act
Some Quebec organizations incorporate federally, usually because they expect to operate in several provinces or want federal name protection. The address rules are similar in spirit but differ in detail.
The registered office
Section 20 of the Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act says: "A corporation shall at all times have a registered office in the province in Canada specified in its articles." The directors "may change the corporation's registered office to another place within the province specified in the articles", and the notice "becomes effective when the Director accepts it" [8]. Moving to another province requires amending the articles.
Corporations Canada's instructions for Form 4002 (the initial registered office address and first board) are unusually direct about what the address is for: "This is where you must keep your corporate records and where official documents will be served on the corporation. Choose an address where you will be sure to receive any documents that are sent there since, legally, they will be assumed to have been received by the corporation." The same page says the address "cannot be a post office box" and is public information published in the online database [9]. Form 4003, used to change the address, asks for a new address that "must be a street address; a P.O. Box is not acceptable" [34].
The deemed-receipt rule is in the statute itself. Under section 273, "a notice or other document required to be sent to or served on a corporation may be sent by registered mail to the registered office of the corporation" and, if so sent, "is deemed to be received or served at the time it would be delivered in the ordinary course of mail", unless there are reasonable grounds to believe it was not received [35]. Registered mail means a signature at delivery [36]. If your provider refuses signature-required mail, that works against how the federal Act expects official notices to reach you. Whether a refused or returned letter still counts as received would be argued after the fact, which is exactly the situation to avoid.
Forms, fees and timing
Filing
Purpose
Fee (online, October 2026)
Form 4001, Articles of Incorporation
Creates the corporation; names the province of the registered office
Corporations Canada says to file a change of registered office "Immediately" and that it is free, and that the annual return is due "within the 60 days following the corporation's anniversary date" [38]. Its reporting page also explains why the address matters operationally: "Your registered office address is the official address for communicating with your not-for-profit corporation. Many people rely on this address. Corporations Canada also uses this address to remind you to file your annual returns" [38].
Records: more flexibility than Part III
The federal Act is more flexible than the Quebec Companies Act on records. A corporation keeps its records "at its registered office or at any other place in Canada designated by the directors" [8]. For a federal nonprofit using a mailbox address, the board can therefore designate another place in Canada for the records by resolution, which removes one of the main frictions discussed below.
Registering a federal nonprofit in Quebec
Federal incorporation does not replace Quebec registration. Corporations Canada reminds new nonprofits that carrying on activities in a province "can include running a program or fundraising event; having an address, a post office box or phone number; or offering services or products at that location" [39]. Quebec law presumes that a person with "an address in Québec" or a post office box in Québec is carrying on an activity there [40].
Quebec.ca says that "legal persons not constituted in Québec that carry on an activity in Québec must produce the declaration of registration of a legal person ... within 60 days of commencing activities in Québec", and that an enterprise "that has no domicile address, business address or establishment in Québec must declare a mandatary in the enterprise register" [41]. For a nonprofit legal person not constituted in Quebec, the registration declaration costs $41 at the regular rate, as does the annual updating declaration [42]. A federal nonprofit whose registered office is in Quebec has its domicile in Quebec under article 307 of the Civil Code[1], so the address question is usually answered by its registered office.
Change to another city (Part III) or province (federal)
By-law ratified by two thirds of members, RE-503, $67 [22]
Amend the articles
Default AGM place
Head office locality, in Quebec (elsewhere only if the letters patent provide or all members consent) [20]
Place in the by-laws, or chosen by directors, in Canada [43]
Electronic meetings
Allowed unless the constituting act or by-laws say otherwise [44][45]
Participation allowed unless by-laws say otherwise; fully virtual only if by-laws allow [43]
2727 Coworking space, 2727 Saint-Patrick, Montreal
Registered charities and NPOs: CRA and Revenu Québec address rules
Tax authorities ask for addresses for different reasons than the enterprise register, and they ask for more than one.
The CRA's three addresses
The CRA's general page on business addresses defines the physical address as "the business or head office address", which "must be where the day-to-day activities take place" and "must represent the physical location of your actual business"; PO boxes and rural routes are refused. The mailing address "can be different from the physical address", for example your accountant's office. And "if your business books and records are at a location different from your physical address, you must provide this information to the CRA" [10].
The honest reading for a nonprofit with no premises: a mailbox address is a mailing address for CRA purposes. It is not a physical address unless the organization actually carries on its day-to-day activities there, which is the case if, for example, its coordinator works from a desk or office at that coworking space. Give the CRA the truth in each field. The register's head office and the CRA's physical address do not have to be the same place, and forcing them to match is a common error.
Registered charities
Registered charities face three extra rules.
Books and records. The Income Tax Act requires a registered charity to keep its records and books of account "at an address in Canada recorded with the Minister or designated by the Minister" [46]. The CRA's guidance: "Books and records must be kept at the Canadian address that you have on file with us," and "books and records maintained outside Canada but accessible electronically in Canada do not meet the requirement" [11].
The annual return. In the T3010 instructions, line F1 asks for "the physical address of the charity. This means the address where the charity is located", and "post office box numbers and rural routes for these addresses are not sufficient" for the physical and books-and-records addresses [47].
The public list. The CRA explains that "the List of charities displays only the mailing addresses of registered charities", and that charities whose beneficiaries might be at risk "should use a mailing address that is different from their physical location, for example a post office box number, or the address of the organization's lawyer or accountant" [32]. The physical address and the books-and-records address are listed as confidential information on the same page.
That last rule is helpful: the CRA itself expects that a charity's public mailing address may differ from where it operates. A virtual address is a reasonable public mailing address for a charity. One caution from the same page: "Receipts that show a name or address other than what is on record with the CRA may be rejected when donors claim them on their income tax returns" [32]. Put the address that is on record on your donation receipts, and update the CRA before you print new ones.
New applicants register online: the CRA says to "complete the online form available through My Business Account to apply to become a registered charity" [48]. In Quebec, there is no second application: "As of January 1, 2016, a charitable organization is automatically deemed to be registered in Québec on the day it is registered as such by the Canada Revenue Agency" [49].
Nonprofits that are not charities
An NPO that files the T1044 information return enters "the full name and address of the organization as it was registered with the CRA when you received your business number", and Part 6 asks where the books and records are if they are elsewhere [50]. In Quebec, Revenu Québec says an NPO "is required to keep records and documents supporting the information that they contain at its place of business or at any other place we designate", for six years [51], and that NPOs, "even if they are tax-exempt entities, must file the income tax or information return" that corresponds to their situation; an NPO that is a corporation files form CO-17.SP (or CO-17) [52]. If the organization collects GST and QST, note that for an organization physically located in Quebec, "the GST/HST is administered by Revenu Québec" [53].
Address fields by agency
Agency
Field
What it should contain for a nonprofit using a virtual address
Registraire des entreprises
Domicile (head office)
The virtual address, if the provider authorizes head-office use and the conditions above are met; otherwise the real base
Registraire des entreprises
Elected domicile
The virtual address and the named person mandated to receive documents, if you want official mail routed there
CRA
Physical address
Where day-to-day activities actually take place [10]
CRA
Mailing address
The virtual address works here
CRA
Books and records address
Where the books really are; charities must keep them at this Canadian address [11]
Revenu Québec
Business address
Kept in sync with the register; update it separately [29]
Corporations Canada (federal only)
Registered office
A street address where you will be sure to receive documents [9]
Receiving government and bank mail at a virtual address
A common question is whether a mailbox plan will receive official mail from the Registraire, Revenu Québec, the CRA and banks. The answer has two parts: what kind of mail it is, and what the provider does with it.
Ordinary letters
Most government mail is ordinary letter mail: notices from the Registraire about the annual declaration, Revenu Québec correspondence, CRA notices, bank statements and cards (cards may be a separate question), funder letters. A mailbox service that accepts letter mail will receive these. The questions are how fast you are told (photo or scan of the envelope), whether contents are scanned, and how long mail is held.
Reduce the paper first
Both tax authorities let you move most correspondence online, which reduces what depends on a mailbox.
CRA: "By default, businesses have their mail delivery method set to Online." If paper mail is undeliverable, the method switches back to online, and paper mail must be re-requested every two years [54].
Revenu Québec: businesses can have their online service managers "consent to online correspondence only, in My Account for businesses", and the consent is valid until revoked [55].
Corporations Canada: annual return reminders come by email if you subscribe; otherwise "you will receive these notices by post at either the corporation's registered office address or at any additional address you may have provided" [56].
Going online does not remove the need for a legal address, but it means a delayed letter is rarely the only notice you get.
Registered mail and signature items
Canada Post's Registered Mail exists precisely to prove delivery: "You'll get a copy of the signature for mail sent in Canada" [36]. For federal not-for-profit corporations, a notice required under the Act and sent by registered mail to the registered office is deemed received at the time it would ordinarily be delivered, unless there are reasonable grounds to believe it was not received (section 273) [35]. If your provider refuses mail that requires a signature, a registered letter addressed to your head office will typically be returned or held for pickup, you may not learn of it in time, and the sender may argue that it was properly sent. Ask the provider exactly what happens: refused at the door, notice card left, or picked up on your behalf.
Bailiffs and legal proceedings
A lawsuit against a Quebec nonprofit starts with an originating application served by bailiff. For a legal person, notification "is made at its head office ... by leaving the document in the care of a person who appears to be in a position to give it to an officer or director or an agent of the legal person", or by delivering it personally to an officer or director wherever they are [13]. Notification may also be made "at the addressee's elected domicile" [25]. A staffed reception desk that is willing to accept such documents and tell you the same day is worth more than any other feature of an address plan used as a head office. Ask the provider directly whether its staff accepts documents from bailiffs for clients. Our guide to registered mail and bailiff service at a virtual address goes deeper on this point.
Parcels
Many virtual mailbox plans refuse parcels. For most nonprofits this matters less than signature mail, but funders sometimes send equipment, and banks may courier cards. Ask.
A quick checklist for mail
Mail type
Typical sender
What to confirm with the provider
Ordinary letters
Registraire, Revenu Québec, CRA, banks, funders
Notification method and delay, scanning, holding period
Registered mail (signature)
Courts' clerks, lawyers, some government notices, members exercising rights
Accepted, refused, or notice card left
Bailiff delivery
Bailiffs serving proceedings or formal notices
Whether staff accepts for clients, and how fast you are told
Parcels and courier
Funders, suppliers, banks
Accepted or refused; size limits
Cheques and donations
Donors
How cheques are handled; whether originals can be picked up quickly
2727 Coworking space, 2727 Saint-Patrick, Montreal
The exact address format
Address mismatches are a leading cause of bank and platform reviews. Canada Post's rules are the reference for how a civic address with a unit should be written.
"If a unit number is assigned, it's an integral part of the address. You must include it" [57].
A unit number may be placed before the civic number with a hyphen, without a unit identifier, or after the street with a designator such as SUITE or UNIT; in French, Bureau [57][58].
The province is written with its two-letter abbreviation (QC), and the postal code is in capitals, separated from the province by two spaces, with one space in the middle and no hyphen [57].
A generic example, using a fictional address, written two acceptable ways:
Layout
Line 1
Line 2
Line 3
Unit before civic number
ORGANISME EXEMPLE
109-100 RUE EXEMPLE
MONTRÉAL QC H1A 1A1
Unit after street
ORGANISME EXEMPLE
100 RUE EXEMPLE SUITE 109
MONTRÉAL QC H1A 1A1
Two rules matter more than the exact layout. First, ask the provider whether a personal mailbox number applies and where it goes (some providers add a second unit or box number), and use precisely that string. At 2727 there is none: the organization's name goes on line 1, then 109-2727 Rue Saint-Patrick, then Montréal QC H3K 0A8. This is the same address as 2727 Rue Saint-Patrick, Suite 109, the wording on the signed agreement; banks and registries accept either form. Second, use the identical string everywhere: RE-303 section 2, the initial declaration, the CRA, Revenu Québec, the bank, your by-laws if they name the address, your letterhead and your donation receipts. The RE-303 has separate fields for apartment, number and street [3]; fill them the same way your provider writes the address.
Banks and proof of address for a nonprofit
Banks verify an organization's existence and address under federal anti-money-laundering rules. FINTRAC's guidance lets a bank verify a corporation using "a certificate of incorporation" or "the most recent version of any other record that confirms the corporation's existence and contains its name and address and the names of its directors, such as a certificate of active corporate status". For an entity other than a corporation, such as an unincorporated association, it can use "articles of association, or the most recent version of any other record that confirms its existence and contains its name and address" [59]. For nonprofits specifically, the bank must also determine whether the entity is a registered charity or "an organization ... that solicits financial donations from the public" [60].
The registry record is therefore the backbone of your bank file. If the REQ shows your virtual address as head office, the bank sees the same address on the document it relies on. The friction is usually elsewhere: bank checklists often ask for a utility bill. TD's Community Account page, for example, lists "Confirmation of business address, i.e., utility or property tax bill" among the documents for a corporation opening that account, and asks for a CRA registration number if the organization solicits donations from the public [61]. An organization that has never had premises has no utility bill. Ask the bank in advance which alternatives it accepts (a signed service agreement, the REQ statement of information, a CRA letter), and do not assume a branch will accept a mailbox agreement.
2727 Coworking space, 2727 Saint-Patrick, Montreal
Board meetings and the AGM: where can they be held?
A frequent assumption is that a nonprofit must meet at its head office, which would rule out a mailbox address. That is not what the statutes say.
Quebec Part III nonprofits
Annual meeting. "The annual meeting of the company shall be held in Québec at such place as its by-laws or constituting act provide." If the by-laws say nothing, the default is the place named as the head office. A meeting outside Québec is possible only if the letters patent provide for it or all members entitled to attend consent [20]. Éducaloi summarizes the default for nonprofits: if no place is set in your general by-laws, the AGM is held in Quebec, in the municipality where the head office is located [62]. The default is the municipality, not the street address. A Montréal head office means a Montréal meeting, in any suitable room.
Board meetings by technology. Unless the constituting act or the by-laws say otherwise, "the directors may participate in a meeting of the board of directors by such means, particularly by telephone, as permit all persons participating in the meeting to communicate directly with one another. They are then deemed to be present at the meeting" [44].
General meetings by technology. Section 89.4 extends sections 89.1 to 89.3 "to the meetings of the executive committee and general meetings" [45]. Éducaloi's reading: "You can also hold an AGM remotely or in hybrid mode, so long as your by-laws or letters patent don't prohibit it. However, you must make sure that all the participants can communicate with one another directly" [62].
Written resolutions. "A resolution in writing, signed by all the directors entitled to vote on that resolution ... is as valid as if it had been passed at a meeting" [63], and the same rule extends to general meetings through section 89.4.
Notice. If the by-laws do not provide otherwise, the default notice rule is old-fashioned: Éducaloi explains that you must send it by registered mail and publish it in a newspaper distributed in the nonprofit's municipality [62]. Most by-laws replace this with email notice. Check yours.
Federal NFP Act corporations
Members' meetings "shall be held within Canada at the place provided in the by-laws or, in the absence of such a provision, at the place that the directors determine", and if the by-laws so provide, a meeting may be held "entirely by means of a telephonic, an electronic or other communication facility" [43]. Corporations Canada adds that a fully electronic meeting requires that "the by-laws specifically allow the use of such communications systems" [64].
Timing. The first annual meeting is due within 18 months of incorporation; later ones no later than 15 months after the previous one and no later than six months after the financial year end [65].
Directors "may meet at any place and on any notice that the by-laws require", unless the articles or by-laws say otherwise, and may participate electronically with the consent of all directors [66].
What this means in practice
Need
Does the head office address have to host it?
Practical option
Board meetings
No
Video call, a member's office, or a bookable meeting room
AGM (Part III, by-laws silent)
No, but it must be in the head office municipality
Any suitable room in that municipality, or virtual/hybrid if not prohibited
AGM (federal)
No, it must be in Canada at the by-law place or directors' choice
Room, virtual if the by-laws allow
Special meeting to move the head office
No
Same as AGM; or a written resolution signed by all members [22]
If you want an in-person AGM in central Montréal, a coworking meeting room is a natural fit. See our meeting room rental guide for the options and etiquette.
The books-and-records question
This is the part of the analysis that most address providers, and many guides, skip.
Section 107 of the Companies Act, which applies to Part III nonprofits through section 224 [17], says: "Every company shall keep, at its head office in Québec, one or more books" containing its receipts and disbursements, financial transactions, credits and liabilities and the minutes of its members' and directors' meetings [12]. Éducaloi's yearly checklist for nonprofit boards puts it simply: "Your non-profit must usually keep its records at its head office in the province of Quebec" [67].
A virtual mailbox does not keep your books. Three things follow.
Do not pretend the problem away. Many small nonprofits in fact keep their minute book with the secretary and their accounting with the treasurer or an accountant. If your head office becomes a mailbox, that practice does not become more compliant; it simply becomes more visible.
Look at the options with your advisor. Depending on your situation, these may include keeping the head office where the records actually are and using the virtual address as the elected domicile (configuration B above), asking the provider whether it can hold a records binder for you, or, for organizations that are still choosing their statute, noting that the federal Act lets directors designate "any other place in Canada" for records [8]. Which option is right is a legal question. A notary or lawyer who works with nonprofits can answer it quickly.
Align the tax side. The CRA asks for a separate books-and-records address when the books are not at the physical address [10], charities must keep books at the Canadian address on file [11], and Revenu Québec expects NPO records at the place of business "or at any other place we designate" [51]. Tell each agency where the books really are.
2727 Coworking space, 2727 Saint-Patrick, Montreal
Funders and borough recognition: the head office location has consequences
The head office is also an eligibility criterion for public funding and municipal recognition, which makes the choice of municipality and sometimes of borough strategic.
PSOC in Montréal. For the 2023-2024 eligibility round of the health ministry's Programme de soutien aux organismes communautaires, the Montréal community network RIOCM listed as criteria that "l'organisme dispose d'un siège social à Montréal, selon son inscription au Registraire des entreprises du Québec" and that it has offered activities and services to Montrealers "depuis plus d'un an" [68]. The register entry, not your letterhead, is what counts.
Borough recognition. Montréal boroughs recognize and support local nonprofits through their own policies. The Côte-des-Neiges-Notre-Dame-de-Grâce policy adopted in June 2022, for example, requires the organization to be duly constituted (notably under Part III of the Companies Act) and to "avoir son siège social dans l'Arrondissement ou opérer un point de service et avoir au moins 75 % de sa clientèle qui réside dans l'Arrondissement" [69].
The lesson: before choosing a virtual address in a different municipality or borough from where you serve people, check every funder and recognition program you depend on. A head office move made to save on rent can quietly cost you eligibility for a local program.
What proof of address a nonprofit can get
When a bank, funder or platform asks for "proof of address", it usually wants one of three kinds of document. Each proves something different.
Document
Issued by
What it proves
What it does not prove
Letters patent and the REQ statement of information (état des renseignements)
Registraire des entreprises
The organization exists; its head office and elected domicile as registered
That anyone works at that address
Federal certificate and corporate profile
Corporations Canada
Existence and registered office of a federal corporation
Day-to-day operations
CRA or Revenu Québec letters
Tax authorities
The addresses on file with them
Occupancy
Signed service agreement
The address provider
The organization's right to use the address, from a start date, in a defined role
Government acceptance, bank approval
Utility or property tax bill
Utility, municipality
Occupancy of premises
Not available to an organization without premises
A good provider agreement names the organization's exact legal name, the full civic address with unit and any mailbox number, the start date and the authorized use. Our page on proof of business address documents goes through how banks and platforms read each one.
One contract point specific to nonprofits: Quebec's Consumer Protection Act defines a consumer as "a natural person, except a merchant who obtains goods or services for the purposes of his business" [70]. A nonprofit legal person is not a natural person, so the consumer-contract protections that an individual would enjoy do not apply to your organization's subscription. Read the cancellation, notice and renewal terms as a business would.
2727 Coworking space, 2727 Saint-Patrick, Montreal
What to confirm with the provider before subscribing
The questions below come from what Quebec nonprofit founders and board members actually ask before choosing an address. Get the answers in writing, ideally in the agreement itself.
#
Question
Why it matters
1
Do you accept nonprofit legal persons (and unincorporated associations, if relevant) as clients?
Not every provider does; eligibility is the first gate
2
Does the contract explicitly authorize use of the address as our head office (siège), our elected domicile, or both, in our exact legal name?
Banks, funders and the Registraire may ask what entitles you to the address
3
What is the exact address string, including the suite and any mailbox number?
Do you receive registered mail and other items requiring a signature?
For federal corporations, registered mail to the registered office can be deemed received [35]
5
Will your staff accept a document from a bailiff for us, and how fast will we be told?
Notification to a legal person is made at its head office [13]
6
Do you accept parcels and courier deliveries?
Funders and banks sometimes ship items
7
How are we notified of mail, and what is scanned at which plan?
Deadlines run from receipt, not from when you read it
8
Who can pick up originals, when, and with what identification? Can we change the authorized names when the board changes?
Boards rotate every year; the person collecting the mail must be authorized
9
How long is mail held, and what happens to mail after we cancel?
Canada Post will not forward mail from shared or private-mailbox addresses [33]
10
What is the minimum term, and how and when can we cancel?
Consumer-law protections do not apply to a legal person [70]
11
Can you store our minute book or records?
Section 107 ties the books to the head office [12]
12
Can we book a meeting room for board meetings or the AGM, at what times and price?
The AGM must be in the head office municipality by default [20]
13
What document do you issue as proof of address, and what does it state?
Banks rely on documents that show name, address and date [59]
14
Are prices quoted before or after GST and QST?
Budgeting; nonprofits often have tight annual budgets
How 2727 Coworking fits
2727 Coworking is at 2727 Rue Saint-Patrick, Suite 109, Montréal, QC H3K 0A8, in Griffintown on the Lachine Canal, near Charlevoix metro. Here is what we can state, and what you should ask us.
What the address is. Our virtual mailbox service uses a real civic address, not a PO box, with no separate box number. Mail is sorted by organization name, and the address is written "Your Organization Name / 109-2727 Rue Saint-Patrick / Montréal QC H3K 0A8", where 109 is the suite shared by all clients. This is the same address as 2727 Rue Saint-Patrick, Suite 109, the wording on the signed agreement; banks and registries accept either form. Under our published terms, the address may be used on REQ and incorporation filings; which role it plays (head office, business address or elected domicile) depends on the client's situation.
Plans, as of October 2026, before taxes: Mailbox from $35/month, Mailbox + Scanning from $85, Virtual Address from $135 and Virtual Office from $165. GST and QST are extra. Current plans and checkout are at booking.2727coworking.com.
Mail handling. We accept standard letter mail (up to about 500 g, large-envelope size). Each envelope is photographed and you are notified; scanning starts with the $85 plan. Parcels and mail requiring a signature are refused, and there is no forwarding. Mail is held six months. Read items 4 and 5 of the checklist above with that in mind, and ask us how registered mail and bailiff deliveries would be handled before you name the address as your head office.
Pickup of originals. By appointment with photo ID, Monday to Friday 8:00 to 12:00 and Saturday 9:00 to 11:00, by authorized names only.
Proof document. A signed agreement naming the organization, the address in that format, and the start date. Banks and platforms apply their own verification, and we do not guarantee their approval.
Commitment. Mailbox plans can be cancelled or changed at any time, effective at the end of the paid period.
Meetings. Our conference room seats 8 and is booked by the day ($300/day before taxes, 09:00 to 17:00) at booking.2727coworking.com/conference. Evening or weekend use is not published; ask.
What to confirm with us. Whether we accept your nonprofit as a mailbox client is not something we publish: contact us with your organization's details before subscribing, exactly as you would with any provider. The same goes for records storage.
2727 Coworking space, 2727 Saint-Patrick, Montreal
Step-by-step: setting up a new Quebec nonprofit with a virtual head office
Choose the statute. Part III (Quebec) or the federal Act. If you will only operate in Quebec, Part III is the usual choice; the federal Act offers more flexibility on where records are kept [8].
Check your funders. If you plan to apply to a program with a territorial criterion, choose a head office municipality (and borough) that keeps you eligible [68][69].
Choose the provider and confirm the 14 points in the checklist, in writing. Confirm eligibility for nonprofits first.
Sign the agreement in the name the organization will have, and get the exact address string.
File RE-303 with the complete head office address in section 2, the sworn statement and payment, by mail [3].
Within 60 days of registration, file the initial declaration in Mon bureau; decide whether to declare an elected domicile and a mandated person [23][7].
Adopt general by-laws that set the AGM place or allow virtual and hybrid meetings, and set email notice.
Decide where the books and minute book live, and get advice if they cannot be at the head office.
Register with the tax authorities as needed (business number, Revenu Québec files, charity application through My Business Account [48]), giving each the right physical, mailing and books address.
Switch government correspondence online where possible [54][55].
Open the bank account after asking the bank which address documents it accepts [61].
Calendar the annual updating declaration (May 15 to November 15 for legal persons) [28] and the AGM.
Common mistakes
Filing RE-303 before the address is secured. The form asks for the complete address. Fix the address first.
Treating the CRA physical address as the REQ head office. They are different questions. The CRA's physical address is where activities happen [10].
Assuming a mailbox can receive everything. Registered mail and parcels are often refused. Bailiffs need someone to hand documents to [13].
Forgetting the books. Section 107 ties the books to the head office [12]. Decide what you will do about it.
Moving to another city without a by-law. A change of municipality needs a by-law ratified by members and form RE-503 [22].
Updating the register but not Revenu Québec. Revenu Québec must be told separately, unless you use Zone entreprise's combined service [29].
Letting the authorized pickup names go stale. The treasurer who left two AGMs ago should not be the only person allowed to collect your mail.
Missing two annual declarations. For a Quebec nonprofit, cancellation of registration results in dissolution [28].
2727 Coworking space, 2727 Saint-Patrick, Montreal
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a Quebec nonprofit (OBNL) use a virtual address as its head office?
Generally yes, if the address is a real civic address in Quebec, the provider authorizes head-office use in writing, official documents (including registered mail and bailiff deliveries) can be received there, and the organization has a plan for its books and records. The law sets the head office as the legal person's domicile [1] and requires it to be in Quebec [2]; it does not require premises you occupy.
What is form RE-303 and is it still used in 2026?
RE-303 is the Demande de constitution en personne morale sans but lucratif, the application for letters patent under Part III of the Companies Act[3]. As of October 2026, quebec.ca still directs founders to it and to its guide RE-303.G [4].
Can I file the RE-303 online?
No. The form is filled on screen, printed, signed, sworn before a commissioner of oaths and mailed with payment to the Registraire's Québec City post office box [3]. Online services in Mon bureau begin with the initial declaration [24].
Does the RE-303 ask for the full head office address or only the city?
Section 2 asks for the complete address of the head office [3]. Legally, the letters patent fix the place, which the Registraire's guide says generally means the municipality [21]; the full address is kept current through the register.
How much does it cost to incorporate a nonprofit in Quebec?
As of October 2026, $199 for constitution by letters patent at the regular rate or $298.50 priority, a free initial declaration if filed within 60 days, and $41 per year for the annual updating declaration [5].
What is the difference between the head office and the elected domicile at the REQ?
The domicile of a legal person is its head office address. The elected domicile is the address of the person mandated to receive the enterprise's documents, "the address to which documents must be sent" [6]. A nonprofit can declare both [7].
Can an OBNL use a PO box as its head office?
Do not plan on it. The RE-303 asks for the complete address of the place where the head office will be [3], federal rules expressly refuse PO boxes for registered offices [9], and the CRA refuses them for physical and books-and-records addresses [10][47]. A civic address with a unit or mailbox number is a different thing from a PO box.
Is my nonprofit's head office address public?
Yes. The head office and elected domicile are part of the public enterprise register [6], and a federal corporation's registered office is published in Corporations Canada's database [9]. That is one reason founders prefer not to use a volunteer's home.
Does a Quebec nonprofit have to declare ultimate beneficiaries?
No. Section 33 of the legal-publicity Act exempts non-profit legal persons established for a private interest and associations within the meaning of the Civil Code from that part of the declaration [7].
How do we move our OBNL's head office to a coworking address?
If the new address is in the same municipality, file a free current updating declaration within 30 days [27]. If it is in another municipality, the directors adopt a by-law, at least two thirds of members present at a special meeting ratify it (or all members sign a written resolution), and you file RE-503 and pay $67 [22][5]. Then update Revenu Québec, the CRA, the bank and funders.
Do members have to vote to change the head office?
Only when the head office moves to another municipality [19][22]. A move within the same municipality is a register update.
Can a federal not-for-profit corporation use a virtual address as its registered office?
It can use a street address in the province named in its articles, not a PO box, where it "will be sure to receive any documents" [9]. Since notices required under the Act and sent there by registered mail are generally deemed received [35], confirm that the provider handles registered mail before choosing it.
Does a federal nonprofit active in Quebec have to register with the REQ?
Yes, if it carries on an activity in Quebec. Quebec requires the registration declaration within 60 days of starting activities [41], and having an address in Quebec creates a presumption of activity [40]. The fee is $41 at the regular rate [42].
What addresses does the CRA want for a registered charity?
A physical address where the charity is located, a mailing address, and the Canadian address where books and records are kept [47][11]. Only the mailing address appears on the public List of charities [32].
Can a charity put a virtual address on its donation receipts?
It can use its mailing address on file. The CRA warns that receipts showing a name or address other than what is on record may be rejected when donors claim them [32], so update the CRA before changing receipts.
Will a virtual mailbox receive mail from the REQ, Revenu Québec, the CRA and banks?
Ordinary letters, yes, if the service accepts letter mail. Ask separately about registered mail, signature items, parcels and bank cards. To reduce dependence on paper, use online correspondence with the CRA [54] and Revenu Québec [55].
What happens if registered mail or a bailiff arrives at a virtual address?
It depends entirely on the provider. A bailiff serves a legal person at its head office by leaving the document with someone able to pass it to an officer or director [13]. Registered mail requires a signature [36]. If the provider refuses signature items, ask what happens instead, and consider declaring an elected domicile with a person who can sign [25].
What exact address format should we use?
Follow Canada Post: include the unit number, which is "an integral part of the address", use QC, and write the postal code with one space in the middle [57]. Then copy the provider's exact string, including any mailbox number it assigns, into every filing. At 2727 there is no separate box number: the organization's name goes on the first line.
Can board members pick up original mail on site?
Usually, if they are on the provider's list of authorized names and bring identification. Ask how to update the list when the board changes after each AGM.
Where must a Quebec nonprofit hold its AGM?
In Quebec, at the place set by its by-laws or constituting act; if they are silent, in the municipality of the head office. It can be held outside Quebec only if the letters patent provide for it or all members entitled to attend consent [20][62]. It does not have to be at the head office address.
Can our AGM be held online?
Yes for Part III nonprofits, unless the by-laws or letters patent prohibit it, provided participants can communicate directly with one another [45][62]. Federal corporations can hold a fully electronic meeting if the by-laws allow it [43][64].
Where must an OBNL keep its books and minutes?
The Companies Act says "at its head office in Québec" [12]. Federal corporations can keep records at the registered office or another place in Canada designated by the directors [8]. If your head office will be a mailbox, get advice on how to comply.
Will a bank accept a virtual address for a nonprofit account?
Banks verify existence and address from records such as letters patent or a certificate of status [59], but many also ask for a utility or property tax bill [61]. Ask the bank which alternatives it accepts before you apply.
Does the provider contract need to say we may use the address as our head office?
No statute we found requires that wording, but it is what banks, funders and the Registraire will look for if your right to the address is questioned. Ask for the role (head office, elected domicile or mailing address) and your legal name to appear in the agreement.
Is there a minimum commitment for a virtual address?
It depends on the provider. Because a nonprofit legal person is not a "consumer" under Quebec's Consumer Protection Act[70], the contract's own terms govern. At 2727, mailbox plans can be cancelled or changed at any time, effective at the end of the paid period.
Does 2727 Coworking accept nonprofits as mailbox clients?
We do not publish a rule on this. Contact us with your organization's details before subscribing and we will confirm eligibility and the role the address can play.
Can the head office location affect our funding?
Yes. Some programs require a head office in a given territory as shown in the enterprise register, such as the Montréal PSOC criteria [68], and some borough recognition policies require a head office or service point in the borough [69].
Conclusion
A virtual or coworking address can be a sound head office for a Quebec nonprofit, and for many small organizations it is better than a volunteer's home. But the head office is a legal domicile, not a mailing label. Before you write an address in section 2 of the RE-303 or on Form 4002, make sure the provider authorizes that use in your legal name, that registered mail and bailiff deliveries have somewhere to go, that your board knows where the books and minutes live, and that the municipality you choose keeps you eligible for the funding you depend on. Use the elected domicile when it fits better than the head office, keep every agency's address field truthful, and move correspondence online where you can. When the structure is unusual, or the books cannot sit at the head office, a short consultation with a notary or lawyer who works with nonprofits is money well spent. For the business-side equivalent of this process, see our guide to registering a business address at a coworking space in Quebec.
2727 Coworking space, 2727 Saint-Patrick, Montreal
References
[1] Civil Code of Québec, art. 307, LégisQuébec (Éditeur officiel du Québec)
[2] Companies Act, s. 219, LégisQuébec (Éditeur officiel du Québec)
[3] Form RE-303, Demande de constitution en personne morale sans but lucratif (French only), Gouvernement du Québec, Registraire des entreprises
[4] Constituer une personne morale sans but lucratif (French only), Gouvernement du Québec
[5] Registraire des entreprises fees for a nonprofit legal person (French only), Gouvernement du Québec
[6] Description of information relating to a file in the enterprise register, Gouvernement du Québec
[7] Act respecting the legal publicity of enterprises, s. 33, LégisQuébec (Éditeur officiel du Québec)
[8] Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act, ss. 20 to 22, Justice Laws Website, Government of Canada
[9] Instructions for Form 4002, Initial Registered Office Address and First Board of Directors, Corporations Canada (ISED)
[10] Change a business address, Canada Revenue Agency, Canada Revenue Agency
[62] Quebec Non-Profits: The Annual General Meeting, Éducaloi, Éducaloi
[63] Companies Act, s. 89.3, LégisQuébec (Éditeur officiel du Québec)
[64] The members, Corporations Canada, Corporations Canada (ISED)
[65] Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Regulations (SOR/2011-223), Justice Laws Website, Government of Canada
[66] Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act, s. 136, Justice Laws Website, Government of Canada
[67] Quebec Non-Profits: Yearly Checklist for the Board of Directors, Éducaloi, Éducaloi
[68] Demandes d'admissibilité au PSOC 2023-2024 (French only), RIOCM, Regroupement intersectoriel des organismes communautaires de Montréal (RIOCM)
[69] Politique de reconnaissance et de soutien des OBNL, Côte-des-Neiges-Notre-Dame-de-Grâce (French only), Ville de Montréal, Arrondissement de Côte-des-Neiges-Notre-Dame-de-Grâce
[70] Consumer Protection Act, s. 1, LégisQuébec (Éditeur officiel du Québec)
