Your Business Address With Quebec's REQ: Head Office, Elected Domicile, Establishments and How to Change Them
Head office, elected domicile, establishment or PO box: what each Quebec REQ address means, and how to change it in Mon bureau, with fees and deadlines.
Quebec's enterprise register does not hold "a business address". It holds several addresses, each with its own legal meaning: the domicile (for a company, its head office), the elected domicile where the Registraire des entreprises sends documents, the addresses of the establishments where the business actually operates, and the professional addresses of the people named in the file. They answer different questions, they carry different legal consequences, and they are changed through the same online declarations but for different reasons. Most of the confusion founders run into, including "can I register my NEQ at a coworking address?", "is the head office the same as the mailing address?" and "can I use a case postale?", comes from treating these roles as one. This guide takes each role in turn, shows how it applies to a coworking membership or a virtual mailbox, and then walks through the actual procedures for changing an address: the current update declaration, the annual updating declaration, the correction declaration, the fees and deadlines in force as of October 2026, and the Mon bureau and clicSÉQUR logins you need to file them. If you are registering for the first time rather than changing an existing file, start with our companion guide, How to Register Your Business at a Coworking Address in Quebec, and come back here for the address roles in depth.
Executive Summary
The register distinguishes four kinds of address. For a legal person, the "domicile" is the address of its head office; for a sole proprietor it is the owner's home; the "elected domicile" is the address of the person mandated to receive the enterprise's documents under the Act respecting the legal publicity of enterprises; "establishments" are the places in Quebec where the enterprise carries on its activities; and a "professional address" is a natural person's main place of work [1].
A head office has legal weight that a mailing address does not. Under the Civil Code, a legal person's domicile is "at the place and address of its head office" [3], court documents are notified to a legal person at its head office [5], and a Quebec business corporation must keep its key corporate records there unless the board designates another place [4].
A PO box cannot be a professional address, the Registraire says so expressly [1], and the federal registered office and the CRA physical address also exclude PO boxes [35][37]. A civic address with a unit or mailbox number is a different thing from a Canada Post PO box.
An address change must be declared within 30 days, through a current update declaration that is free (priority processing costs extra) and filed online in Mon bureau [2][7].
The annual updating declaration is a separate, yearly obligation that applies even when nothing changed. As of October 2026 it costs $106 for a business corporation and $41 for a sole proprietorship or a nonprofit legal person, including the annual registration fee, with a 50% penalty when filed late [19][20].
Missing two consecutive annual declarations can lead to ex officio cancellation, and for a Quebec-constituted legal person that means dissolution [8].
"Mon bureau" is the Registraire's portal; "Mon dossier" is Revenu Québec's. You reach Mon bureau with clicSÉQUR Express (your NEQ plus a mailed access code) or clicSÉQUR Entreprises [16]. Changing the REQ file does not change your address at Revenu Québec or the CRA.
The Four Addresses in a Quebec Enterprise File
Open any enterprise's "état de renseignements" (statement of information) on the public register and you will see a block headed, in French, "Adresse du domicile, du domicile élu, professionnelle ou du siège". That heading is the whole subject of this guide in one line. The Registraire's own glossary defines each element, and the definitions are short enough to quote in full before we look at what they mean in practice [1].
Address on the register
Registraire definition (paraphrased closely)
Who has one
Public?
Domicile (adresse du domicile)
Legal person: the address of its head office. Sole proprietor: the owner's home. Partnership or association: its principal establishment
Every registrant
Yes, except a natural person's home address when a professional address is declared
Elected domicile (domicile élu)
The address of the person mandated to receive the enterprise's documents for the purposes of the Act respecting the legal publicity of enterprises; "the address to which documents must be sent"
Optional
Yes
Establishment (établissement)
A place in Quebec where the enterprise carries on activities, such as its head office, offices and branches; the principal one is identified
Any enterprise with Quebec premises
Yes
Professional address (adresse professionnelle)
A natural person's main place of work or business; cannot be a PO box
Optional, for individuals named in the file
Yes, instead of the home address
Two further addresses can appear in some files. Public authorities (NEQ starting with 88) show a "siège social" line, which the Registraire describes as the legal person's domicile address [1]. And an enterprise that has neither a domicile nor an establishment in Quebec must designate an attorney (fondé de pouvoir) residing in Quebec, whose name and address go on the register [2]. The attorney may be a natural person or a legal person [1].
The statute behind these fields is the Act respecting the legal publicity of enterprises (Loi sur la publicité légale des entreprises, chapter P-44.1). Section 33 lists what a registration declaration contains: the registrant's name and domicile, then "if applicable" the domicile it elects together with the name of the person it mandates to receive documents, and the addresses of its establishments in Quebec, specifying the principal one [2]. Section 35.2 adds the professional address for natural persons. Everything you later change with an updating declaration is one of these fields.
Domicile: what "head office" means for each legal form
The word "domicile" changes meaning with the legal form of the enterprise, and getting this wrong is the root of most address mistakes.
Legal form
What the "domicile" field means
Can it be a coworking or mailbox address?
Business corporation (société par actions), Quebec
The head office (siège), which must be permanently located in Quebec
Legally possible if the company's head office is genuinely established there and the arrangement is documented
Nonprofit legal person (Part III, Companies Act)
The head office (siège) stated in the application for letters patent
Same analysis as a corporation; confirm the provider accepts nonprofits
Sole proprietorship (personne physique)
The owner's home
No. The home address must be declared; a coworking address can be added as a professional address or an establishment
General or limited partnership
The address of the principal establishment
Only if the partnership's principal establishment really is there
Trust operating a commercial enterprise
Unless designated, the place of its principal establishment in Quebec
Same as a partnership
For a legal person, the Civil Code fixes the rule: "The domicile of a legal person is at the place and address of its head office," and a legal person may change its domicile "by following the procedure established by law" [3]. For a Quebec business corporation, the Business Corporations Act adds that the head office "must be permanently located in Québec" [4]. The Registraire's definition for partnerships, associations and trusts (the principal establishment) is set out on the same glossary page [1].
The sole-proprietor row deserves emphasis because it is where founders most often go wrong. A natural person's domicile, under the Civil Code, is at the place of their principal establishment in the civil-law sense, which means where they live [3]. The Registraire's definition is explicit: for a natural person operating a sole proprietorship, the domicile address "is their home address" [1]. A self-employed person cannot "move their head office" to a coworking space, because a sole proprietorship has no head office distinct from its owner. What they can do is declare the coworking address as a professional address (so the home address stays off the public register) and, if they genuinely work there, as an establishment. Two limits apply. The home address is still declared and kept on file: it is withheld from public consultation, but a court bailiff may consult it in the course of their work (section 99.1). And if the owner lives outside Quebec, the domicile is that foreign or out-of-province home, so a sole proprietor with no establishment in Quebec must also designate an attorney (section 26) [2].
Elected domicile: where the Registraire sends documents
The elected domicile is the most misunderstood field on the register, and it is also the one the Google searches around "adresse du domicile élu" are really asking about. The Registraire defines it as the "address of the person mandated to receive enterprise documents for the purposes of the Act respecting the legal publicity of enterprises", and adds a plain sentence: "This is the address to which documents must be sent" [1].
Three features follow from the statute:
It is optional. Section 33 lists it among the items a declaration contains "if applicable" [2]. If you do not elect a domicile, documents go to your domicile.
It names a person, not just a place. The declaration states "the domicile elected by the registrant and the name of the person mandated by the registrant to receive documents" [2]. Electing domicile at an accountant's office, a lawyer's office or a mail-handling address therefore involves someone who has agreed to receive documents there. Do not name a provider or an accountant as the mandated person unless they have agreed in writing.
It is public and opposable. The elected domicile and the name of the mandated person are among the items that "may be set up against third persons" from the time they are recorded and that are "proof of its content for the benefit of third persons in good faith" (section 98) [2].
The concept is borrowed from civil law, where parties to a juridical act "may, in writing, elect domicile with a view to the execution of the act", and where "election of domicile is not presumed" [3]. The Code of Civil Procedure also allows notification "at the addressee's elected domicile" [5]. Note the scope of the REQ field, though: it is elected "for the purposes of this Act", that is, for the legal publicity regime. It does not move the company's head office, and it does not replace the head office as the place where a legal person is notified under article 125 of the Code of Civil Procedure. Whether a party may also notify a proceeding at the REQ elected domicile under article 128 is a question for a lawyer; do not assume it either way.
The English vocabulary is not stable. The register glossary says "elected domicile", while the English page on registering a foreign legal person calls the same thing an "address for service" [30]. If an English-speaking adviser says "address for service" in a Quebec registry context, they usually mean domicile élu.
Establishments: where the business actually operates
An establishment is a "place in Québec where the enterprise conducts its activities, such as the head office, the offices and various branches", and the French glossary adds that the registrant enters each establishment's address, its French name, its two main activities with their codes, and specifies which is the principal one [1]. The statutory basis is section 33, paragraph 8 [2].
The test is factual: does the enterprise carry on activities at that place? A private office or a regular coworking desk where you and your team work is a natural candidate. A mail-only subscription where nobody from your company works is not, and declaring it as an establishment would describe something that does not exist. The establishment list is also where the number of employees working in Quebec becomes relevant, since the register asks for the number of employees whose workplace is in Quebec [1].
Professional address: keeping a home address off the public register
Since March 31, 2023, the home address of every natural person named in a file (directors, shareholders, partners, sole proprietors) must be declared to the Registraire. If you do not want it published, you may declare a professional address, defined as the person's "principal lieu de travail ou d'affaires", their main place of work or business [15]. The Registraire's page sets out the rules precisely:
a PO box cannot serve as a professional address;
a natural person can have only one professional address on the register, and it must be the same in every enterprise where that person appears;
the Registraire gives "the address of the enterprise's domicile" as an example of a professional address;
if the professional address becomes invalid, the enterprise must update it within 30 days of a request from the Registraire, failing which the home address is published [15].
That last rule is the one that bites people who cancel a coworking or mailbox subscription: the professional address quietly becomes invalid, a request arrives at an address nobody checks, and the home address ends up on the public register. Separately, the Registraire may block access to personal information on the register, for a period it sets, when it has reasonable grounds to believe that making it accessible is a serious threat to a person's safety (section 100) [2].
The attorney (fondé de pouvoir) and enterprises with no Quebec address
An enterprise "who is neither domiciled nor has an establishment in Québec must designate an attorney residing in Québec" (section 26), and any proceeding against the enterprise may be notified to that attorney, even after its registration is cancelled (section 28) [2]. The Registraire's page for legal persons constituted outside Quebec adds a point that matters for virtual-address users: an enterprise with no domicile address, no professional address and no establishment in Quebec must declare a mandatary "even if the enterprise has declared an address for service" [30]. In other words, electing domicile at a Montreal mailbox does not, by itself, give a foreign or out-of-province company a Quebec presence that dispenses it from appointing an attorney. Our non-resident guide and the federal corporation scenario go deeper on that path.
"Adresse corporative", "registered address", "mailing address": everyday words versus register fields
People ask for an "adresse corporative", a "registered address" or a "legal address". None of these is a field on the Quebec register. In practice:
Everyday expression
Usually means, in a Quebec REQ context
Field to look at
Registered address, legal address, adresse corporative, siège social
The domicile of a legal person (its head office)
Adresse du domicile
Mailing address, adresse de correspondance, address for service
The address where the Registraire sends documents
Adresse du domicile élu
Business address, place of business, adresse d'affaires
Where the business operates
Établissements
Director's business address
A natural person's professional address
Adresse professionnelle
Registered office (federal)
The CBCA registered office, a separate federal concept
Corporations Canada, not the REQ
When a bank, a landlord or a platform asks for "your registered address", it usually wants the domicile shown on the register, and it will compare it with the document you supply. The habit worth building is to ask which field they mean.
2727 Coworking space, 2727 Saint-Patrick, Montreal
Why the Head Office Carries Legal Weight
The domicile of a legal person is not a cosmetic field. Five consequences flow from it.
1. Third parties may rely on it. Section 98 of the Act lists the information that may be set up against third persons and is proof of its content for third persons in good faith: name and domicile, elected domicile, establishments, professional addresses and more. The same section adds that a registrant whose registration was cancelled ex officio "cannot challenge" the information it declared [2]. The Registraire explains it in plain words: a good-faith third party suing an enterprise can present the statement of information to a judge as proof, and the enterprise itself cannot dispute it against that third party [31]. An out-of-date address is your problem, not the creditor's.
2. Court documents go there. Under article 125 of the Code of Civil Procedure, "notification to a legal person is made at its head office or, if the head office is outside Québec, at one of its establishments in Québec, 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" [5]. Notification may also be made by mail, where registered mail is considered delivered when delivery or receipt is attested (articles 130 and 131), and a bailiff who cannot hand the document to anyone leaves a notice of the visit (article 129). The practical question for any head office at a shared address is therefore: who will receive a bailiff, and will registered mail be accepted?
3. Corporate records are kept there. A Quebec business corporation "must prepare and maintain, at its head office, records" containing its articles and by-laws, minutes of shareholder meetings, the register of directors and the securities register (section 31), and its accounting records and board minutes are kept "at the corporation's head office or at any other place designated by the board" (section 34) [4]. Section 35 allows records to be kept elsewhere if the information is accessible for consultation during normal business hours at the head office or another place in Quebec designated by the board. A company whose head office is a mail-handling address should adopt a board resolution designating where its records actually are.
4. Moving it follows a corporate procedure. A Quebec business corporation may relocate its head office within its judicial district by resolution of the board, to another district by special resolution, and "must declare to the enterprise registrar any change of address of its head office" (section 30) [4]. For a nonprofit constituted under Part III of the Companies Act, section 87 (applied to Part III by section 224) allows a transfer of the head office to another locality by by-law approved at a special general meeting, and the company must give notice of its head office address and of any change by filing a declaration under the legal publicity Act (section 32) [6].
5. It anchors the court district. When the Registraire files one of its decisions with the Superior Court, it does so in the district of the registrant's domicile, its principal establishment or its attorney (section 138) [2].
None of this makes a coworking or virtual address unsuitable as a head office. It means the arrangement has to work in real life: someone has to receive what arrives, tell you quickly, and the company's records have to be reachable.
The PO Box Question: "Case postale comme adresse"
Searches for "case postale comme adresse" reflect a real gap: the rules on PO boxes are scattered across several regimes, and they are not identical.
A Quebec PO box can create registration obligations. Section 25 of the legal publicity Act presumes that a person who has "an address in Québec" or who, directly or through a representative, has "an establishment, a post office box or the use of a telephone line in Québec" is carrying on an activity in Quebec [2]. The Registraire's registration page repeats the list [14]. So renting a PO box in Montreal does not satisfy the address rules, but it can trigger the duty to register.
Government bodies use PO boxes as mailing addresses. The Registraire's own mailing address for third-party revocation requests is "C. P. 1153, succursale Terminus, Québec (Québec) G1K 7C3" [24]. A PO box is a perfectly good place to receive mail. It is just not a place where a business is located, where a bailiff can find someone, or where a person works.
A civic address with a unit or mailbox number is not a PO box. Canada Post treats them as different address elements: a "Postal Box number" sits on its own line above the municipality and refers to a box at a postal installation, while a unit number is part of a civic street address and, "if a unit number is assigned, it's an integral part of the address" [39]. A virtual mailbox at a staffed commercial building, such as a coworking space, is a civic address with a customer number. Canada Post does, however, treat such services differently in one respect: "mail through a privately administrated mailbox company" is on its list of mail it does not forward [41].
Where does that leave the head office of a legal person? The Registraire's published definitions exclude PO boxes expressly only for the professional address. But a head office is the "place and address" of the legal person's domicile under the Civil Code, documents are notified there by leaving them with a person, and corporate records are kept there. A Canada Post PO box can do none of those things. Use a civic address for the domicile, and if you want correspondence to go to a PO box, consider whether an elected domicile at that box is acceptable to the Registraire before relying on it. If your situation is unusual, ask the Registraire or a notary.
2727 Coworking space, 2727 Saint-Patrick, Montreal
Writing the Address Correctly: Suite, Bureau and Mailbox Numbers
The exact format matters more than people expect, because banks and platforms compare strings: the address on your REQ statement, on your proof-of-address document and on your application should match.
Canada Post's addressing guidelines give the rules:
The unit number is mandatory when one exists. It can go before the civic number with a hyphen (and no unit identifier), after the street type with a unit identifier, or on the line above the street [39].
Use a recognised unit designator. In English, "SUITE" or "UNIT" ("APT" for an apartment) [40]; the French version of the same page lists "BUREAU", "APP" and "UNITÉ" [43].
Do not translate the street name or the municipality. "Main can't be translated to Principale", and the official municipality name cannot be translated either; only a few street types (such as ST and RUE) may be [39].
Postal code format. Uppercase, two spaces after the province, a single space between the two halves, no hyphen [39].
No "#" or "No." before box numbers, and no punctuation [39].
Applied to a coworking building, the three equivalent layouts look like this (illustrative, using 2727's building address):
Layout
Example
Unit before civic number
109-2727 RUE SAINT-PATRICK, MONTRÉAL QC H3K 0A8
Unit after street (French)
2727 RUE SAINT-PATRICK BUREAU 109, MONTRÉAL QC H3K 0A8
Unit after street (English)
2727 RUE SAINT-PATRICK SUITE 109, MONTRÉAL QC H3K 0A8
Two practical rules sit on top of Canada Post's. First, if your provider assigns you a personal mailbox number, the exact line it gives you in your signed agreement is the line to copy, character for character, into every filing; do not improvise a format, and do not drop the number. (2727 assigns no personal mailbox number: your company name goes on the first line, then 109-2727 Rue Saint-Patrick, then Montréal QC H3K 0A8. The agreement writes the same address as 2727 Rue Saint-Patrick, Suite 109; either form is accepted, so pick one and keep it.) Second, choose one layout and use it everywhere: the REQ, Revenu Québec, the CRA, your bank and your invoices. The register has no "address line 2" logic of its own, and a bank's verification team will not know that "Suite 109" and "Bureau 109" are the same place unless the rest of the string matches.
The NEQ: Your Key to the Register
The Quebec enterprise number (NEQ) is "a ten-digit numerical identifier assigned to each enterprise that registers" [13]. Its first two digits reveal the legal form: 11 for legal persons, 22 for sole proprietorships, 33 for partnerships, associations and other groups, and 88 for public authorities [1]. The date of registration attached to it "will never be changed".
Useful facts about the NEQ for address purposes:
It does not change when you move. An address change updates the file; the NEQ stays. A sole proprietor cannot hold more than one NEQ, so even a new sole proprietorship later uses the same number [13].
It is the login for clicSÉQUR Express. To reach Mon bureau through clicSÉQUR Express you need the 10-digit NEQ and an 8-character access code that is "permanent and automatically mailed to all registered enterprises" [16]. If that code was mailed to an address you no longer control, use the "lost or forgotten code" procedure.
It is how others check your address. Anyone can search the register with an NEQ, free of charge [13][31]. Your bank will.
It is not the CRA Business Number. The NEQ is a Quebec registry identifier used with Quebec bodies such as Revenu Québec, the CNESST and the OQLF [13]. The federal nine-digit Business Number is separate.
Who needs an NEQ at all? Registration is mandatory for, among others, a sole proprietor operating under a name that does not include their own first and last name, Quebec partnerships, legal persons constituted in Quebec, and legal persons constituted elsewhere that have their domicile in Quebec or carry on an activity there (section 21) [2]. Quebec corporations are registered automatically when their articles are filed; a separate registration declaration is for the others [14]. Searches for "neq mon dossier" usually come from people looking for the portal where they manage that NEQ, which is Mon bureau, covered below.
2727 Coworking space, 2727 Saint-Patrick, Montreal
How to Change Your Address With the REQ
Searches like "mise à jour REQ", "REQ changement d'adresse" and "registre des entreprises du Québec changement d'adresse" all lead to the same answer: there is no standalone "change of address form". You file an updating declaration, and the type depends on the calendar and on the nature of the change.
Choosing the right declaration
Declaration
Use it when
Deadline
Fee (regular)
Source
Current update declaration (déclaration de mise à jour courante)
Any change to the file during the year, including an address change, outside the annual filing period
The 30-day rule is statutory: section 41 requires a registrant to update its information "by filing an updating declaration within 30 days after the date on which any change occurs, unless a shorter period is prescribed by law" [2]. The Registraire's page on responding to its letters gives the address change as the textbook example: the current update declaration "can be filed at any time", "must be filed within 30 days of a change", and is used "for example, to declare a change of address of the enterprise" [18]. It also reminds you that the current update "does not replace" the annual declaration. The Registraire's summary of legal obligations frames it the same way: enterprises "have 30 days following any change to file a current updating declaration", and the annual declaration is due every year regardless [11].
If the annual filing period is open when you move, the Registraire allows the annual declaration to satisfy the current update obligation [7], and the statute deems a current update filed during the annual period to satisfy the annual obligation for that year, provided any annual fee due is paid (section 51) [2].
A correction is different from a move. A correction "has retroactive effect and takes effect on the date the declaration being corrected was filed", and the Registraire warns that it "is not used to declare new information" [9]. If you forgot your suite number when you registered, correct it. If you moved, file a current update.
Step by step in Mon bureau
The Registraire publishes the sequence for filing an update online [18]. Adapted to an address change:
Prepare the corporate decision, if any. For a Quebec business corporation, adopt the board resolution relocating the head office (or the special resolution if you change judicial district) [4]. Keep it in the minute book.
Have your new address documented. Sign the lease or the mailbox agreement first, and copy the exact address line it states.
Log in to Mon bureau with clicSÉQUR Express or clicSÉQUR Entreprises [16].
Click "Gestion de l'entreprise", then "Services permettant la mise à jour des informations contenues au registre".
Choose the declaration: current update (most moves), annual (if you are in your filing period), or correction (if the old address was wrong from the start).
Change every field that is affected: the domicile, the elected domicile if you had one at the old address, the establishment list (close the old establishment, add the new one if you operate there), and the professional address of each director or shareholder who used the old address.
Submit and pay any fee (none for a regular current update) [18].
Check the public statement of information once processed, and keep a PDF of it for your bank.
The Registraire notes that paper filing by mail or at one of two Services Québec offices remains possible but is slower [18]. English service in Mon bureau is reserved for individuals covered by the exceptions in the Charter of the French language [16], so expect French screens.
Mon bureau, Mon dossier, clicSÉQUR and Zone entreprise
Four names, four different things. Mixing them up is the reason "NEQ mon dossier" is a common search.
Portal
Run by
What you do there
Login
Mon bureau
Registraire des entreprises
Annual, current and correction declarations, cancellation, revocation, copies and certificates
clicSÉQUR Entreprises enrolment is free and must be requested by the enterprise's authorized representative; the process varies by legal form and the signed forms are sent by mail [32]. If you plan to change addresses with several Quebec bodies, setting up clicSÉQUR Entreprises once is worth it, because it opens Mon bureau, Mon dossier and Zone entreprise. Quebec's portal page lists all of these "secure spaces" in one place, including Revenu Québec's change-of-address service [26].
A word of caution about Zone entreprise: it lets you notify "several departments and agencies" of a change of address in one step [25]. It is not a substitute for the updating declaration that the legal publicity Act requires at the Registraire, and it does not reach federal bodies. Check the confirmation of which organisations were notified, and file the REQ declaration in Mon bureau regardless.
Fees, Filing Periods and Penalties (as of October 2026)
Fee table
All figures come from the Registraire's fee pages, last updated August 31, 2026. The Registraire states that its fees are not taxable [18].
Legal form
Annual updating declaration on time, incl. annual registration fee (regular / priority)
For context, the one-time startup fees on the same pages are $397 for a certificate of constitution of a business corporation ($595.50 priority), $41 for a sole proprietor's registration declaration, $199 for a nonprofit's letters patent, $63 for a partnership's registration and $397 for the registration of a legal person constituted outside Quebec [19][20][21][22][23]. The point for this guide: changing your address costs nothing unless you pay for priority. What costs money is falling behind.
Annual filing periods
The annual updating declaration is due every year "even if they have no changes to make", starting the year after registration [8].
Enterprise type
Filing period (not joint filing)
Joint filing with the income tax return
Sole proprietorship, partnership
January 1 to June 15
Sole proprietor: file by June 15, pay the annual fee by April 30 (tick line 436 of the TP-1)
Legal persons, associations and other groups, mutual and trust companies
May 15 to November 15
Corporation: file within six months after year end, pay the annual fee within two months after year end (tick line 39 of the CO-17)
Trust operating a commercial enterprise
May 15 to March 31
Paper form RE-403
Joint filing only works when nothing changed. "If any changes need to be made to the information in the register, the enterprise will still have to file an annual updating declaration" [8]. So a company that moved its head office during the year cannot simply tick the box on its CO-17 and assume the register is up to date. Your enterprise's exact deadline appears in the "Dates des mises à jour" section of its statement of information, and the Registraire records the end of each filing period there [1].
What happens if you fall behind
Failure
Consequence
Source
Annual declaration filed late
Penalty equal to 50% of the annual registration fee
The civil sanction is the one that hurts most: an enterprise that is not registered when it must be, or whose registration was cancelled, risks having its right to act before the courts suspended, and a Quebec legal person cancelled ex officio "is deemed to have been dissolved" [12]. Revival is possible through an application for revocation of cancellation, filed in Mon bureau with every missing annual declaration and the penalties and fees owed [24]; the application itself is $134 at regular rates for a business corporation [19]. Once revoked, the registration is deemed never to have been cancelled, "subject to the acquired rights of third parties" [24].
Why does all of this belong in a guide about addresses? Because the Registraire's requests, reminders and notices arrive by mail. An address that nobody monitors is how a missed annual declaration turns into a cancelled company.
2727 Coworking space, 2727 Saint-Patrick, Montreal
Updating Everyone Else
The REQ file is the public record, not the master record for every government system. Updating it does not update the others.
Organisation
What to change
How
Source
Registraire des entreprises
Domicile, elected domicile, establishments, professional addresses
Current update declaration in Mon bureau, within 30 days
Revenu Québec. Revenu Québec's business portal lists "Effectuer un changement d'adresse" among the services in Mon dossier pour les entreprises, which requires clicSÉQUR Entreprises [33]. The same page explains that an enterprise may consent to receive designated communications electronically only; if it revokes that consent, communications go by mail with a copy in the communications centre, and Revenu Québec emails the profile address when something new arrives. Keep that email address current as well.
The CRA. The CRA distinguishes the physical address ("the business or head office address", where "day-to-day activities take place", no PO boxes), the mailing address (which "can be different from the physical address", for example your accountant's office) and the books-and-records address [37]. Note the difference with the REQ: the CRA's physical address is a factual test about daily activity, while a Quebec head office is a corporate decision. A company that only receives mail at a virtual address should think carefully before entering it as its CRA physical address. Since May 2025 the CRA has also made online mail the default for most business correspondence, delivered through My Business Account rather than by paper [38], so for federal tax mail the inbox that matters may be a portal.
Corporations Canada. A federal corporation's directors "may change the place and address of the registered office within the province specified in the articles", and the corporation must notify the Director "within fifteen days of any change" [34]. Corporations Canada lists the change as free online with one-day processing, and moving to another province requires amending the articles [36]. A federal corporation registered in Quebec must also update its REQ file, since the two registries are separate.
Canada Post. Mail Forwarding is a useful bridge after a move, but Canada Post lists what it will not forward, and two items on that list concern shared business addresses directly: "Mail received at a shared postal address (i.e. when the same address is used by more than 2 businesses)" and "Mail through a privately administrated mailbox company" [41]. If you are leaving a coworking space or a virtual mailbox, do not count on Canada Post forwarding to catch government mail. Update the registries, and ask the provider how long it holds mail after cancellation. Our guide on what happens to your business address when you cancel a coworking membership covers the offboarding checklist.
What Each Role Means for a Coworking or Virtual Mailbox Address
This is where the abstract roles become practical. The table below maps common workspace products to the address roles they can honestly support. "Possible" always assumes the provider's contract allows that use and that the facts match.
Address role
Virtual mailbox only (no workspace)
Coworking membership (hot desk or dedicated desk)
Private office
Domicile of a legal person (head office)
Possible if the company chooses to establish its head office there, keeps records accessible, and mail and service are handled reliably
Possible
Natural fit
Domicile of a sole proprietor
No (must be the home)
No (must be the home)
No (must be the home)
Elected domicile
Possible, naming a person mandated to receive documents
Possible
Possible
Establishment
Usually no: nobody carries on activities there
Possible if you genuinely work there
Natural fit
Professional address of a director or sole proprietor
Only if it is genuinely that person's main place of work or business, or follows the Registraire's example of using the enterprise's domicile; never a PO box
Possible
Natural fit
CRA physical address
Usually no: must be where day-to-day activities take place
Possible if day-to-day activity happens there
Natural fit
CRA mailing address
Possible
Possible
Possible
Google Business Profile
No: virtual offices are ineligible
Only with signage, customers received and your staff present during business hours
Possible under Google's rules
Sources for the table: register definitions [1], professional address rules [15], CRA definitions [37], and Google's guidelines, which state that a business renting "a physical mailing address but doesn't operate out of that location, also known as a virtual office" is not eligible, and that a coworking office needs "clear signage", customers at the location and staff "during business hours" [42]. For the platform side, see Google Business Profile, Amazon and virtual addresses in Canada.
Four questions to ask any provider before you file
Which roles does your agreement allow? Head office, elected domicile, establishment, professional address. A provider may allow some uses and not others.
What exact address line will I use? Get it in writing, including any suite or personal mailbox number, and use it unchanged everywhere.
What happens to registered mail, signature-required mail and a bailiff? Article 125 of the Code of Civil Procedure contemplates leaving documents with "a person who appears to be in a position to give it to an officer or director" [5]. If a provider refuses signature mail, plan for it: name an elected domicile where signed mail can be accepted, or make sure you can be reached immediately. Our guide Registered Office vs Mailing Address in Quebec: Registered Mail, Bailiffs and Parcels at a Virtual Mailbox covers this scenario in detail.
What happens after I cancel? How long mail is held, whether it is returned to sender, and whether you will be warned. Canada Post's Mail Forwarding excludes mail received at an address used by more than two businesses and mail received through a privately administrated mailbox company [41], so do not count on it.
2727 Coworking space, 2727 Saint-Patrick, Montreal
What Happens to Government Mail at Your Registered Address
What will actually arrive? A realistic list for a small Quebec company:
Registraire des entreprises. The clicSÉQUR Express access code is mailed automatically to registered enterprises [16]. Requests to update the file arrive as letters with a deadline, and the Registraire may ask for proof confirming the accuracy of information on the register [18]. The statute gives 60 days to remedy a default after such a request [2]. Copies of revocation orders are sent to the enterprise [24].
Revenu Québec. Communications by mail unless the enterprise consented to electronic-only delivery, with copies in the Mon dossier communications centre [33].
CRA. Mostly online since 2025, with some correspondence still on paper when it cannot be delivered online [38].
Federal corporations. Documents served at the registered office are, in Corporations Canada's words, "assumed to have been received by the corporation" [35].
The design principle is simple: whatever address you put on the register, someone must open the mail, tell you the same day, and you must act on it.
Common Mistakes
A sole proprietor declaring the coworking address as their "domicile". The domicile of a natural person is their home. Use the coworking address as a professional address or establishment instead [1].
Treating the elected domicile as the head office. Electing domicile at a mailbox does not move the head office, and it does not remove the need for an attorney when the enterprise has no Quebec domicile or establishment [30].
Naming a provider as the mandated person without its agreement. Section 33 attaches a person's name to the elected domicile [2]. Get written consent first.
Listing a mail-only address as an establishment. An establishment is where activities are carried on.
Using a PO box for a professional address. Expressly excluded [15].
Dropping the suite or mailbox number. Canada Post treats an assigned unit number as an integral part of the address [39]. Without it, mail can go astray inside a busy building, and banks see a mismatch.
Translating the street name. "Rue Saint-Patrick" is not "Saint Patrick Street" on official filings; street names are not translated [39].
Waiting for the annual declaration to report a move. The current update is due within 30 days [2].
Ticking the joint-filing box after a move. Joint filing only confirms unchanged information [8].
Using a correction to report a move. A correction is retroactive and is for information that was wrong when filed [9].
Forgetting the directors' professional addresses. If they pointed to the old head office, they become invalid, and after a Registraire request the home address can be published [15].
Skipping the board resolution. A Quebec corporation relocates its head office by resolution [4]; the REQ declaration reports the decision, it does not replace it.
Assuming the REQ update reaches Revenu Québec and the CRA. It does not. Each has its own change-of-address service [33][37].
Cancelling the mailbox before the registries show the new address. Change the registries first, then cancel, and rely neither on Canada Post forwarding nor on the provider to redirect government mail [41].
Assuming the register can be fixed quietly later. Information on the register is opposable to third parties from the date it is recorded [2], and the public history keeps old filings visible.
2727 Coworking space, 2727 Saint-Patrick, Montreal
Situations: How the Rules Apply by Type of Enterprise
A sole proprietor working from a coworking space
The home address is the domicile and must be declared. Add the coworking address as a professional address if it is your main place of work, so that the home address is not published, and as an establishment if you operate there. Registration costs $41 and the annual declaration $41 as of October 2026 [20]. Your annual filing period runs from January 1 to June 15 [8].
A Quebec business corporation with a virtual head office
The articles go with either the initial declaration or a notice of the head office address and a list of directors [4]. If you file the articles with the initial declaration, you have 48 hours to send it; otherwise you have 60 days [27]. Declare the mailbox address as the domicile only if the company decides to establish its head office there; adopt a board resolution designating where the minute book and accounting records are kept (sections 34 and 35); decide whether you need an elected domicile where signature mail can be received; and list your real operating premises as establishments.
A Quebec nonprofit (OBNL) and form RE-303
A nonprofit legal person is constituted by letters patent on form RE-303, which costs $199 at regular rates, followed by an initial declaration that is free within 60 days [28][21]. Section 2 of the form asks for the "complete address of the place in Québec where the head office of the legal person will be located", and the guide adds that the place name must be the one approved by the Commission de toponymie [29]. The Companies Act requires the application to state "the place, in Québec, where the head office of the legal person will be established" (section 219) [6]. Nonprofit legal persons are exempt from declaring ultimate beneficiaries [2], but their directors' addresses are still declared, so the professional-address mechanism matters for volunteers who do not want their home published. Whether a given mailbox provider accepts nonprofit clients is a contractual question; ask before you put its address on RE-303.
A federal corporation operating in Quebec
The CBCA registered office must be a street address in the province named in the articles, never a PO box [35]. Corporations Canada publishes it, and a change must be notified within 15 days [34]. In Quebec, the corporation registers as a legal person constituted outside Quebec ($397) and keeps its REQ file current like any other registrant [23]. The domicile declared in Quebec must match the one already declared in its home jurisdiction, or the Registraire may refuse registration [30]. A move therefore means two filings: a change of registered office address at Corporations Canada and a current update at the REQ.
An out-of-province or foreign company with only a Quebec mailbox
If the company has no domicile, no establishment and no professional address in Quebec, it needs an attorney residing in Quebec, even if it declares a Quebec address for service [30]. Legal persons governed by Ontario law and domiciled in Ontario are exempt from the registration fee, though not from registration [14]. This is a situation for a Quebec lawyer or notary, and our non-resident guide lays out the questions to bring.
How 2727 Coworking Fits
2727 Coworking is at 2727 Rue Saint-Patrick, Suite 109, Montréal, QC H3K 0A8, in Griffintown. Its virtual mailbox plans give a real civic address, not a PO box, with no separate mailbox number: mail is sorted by company name, so the address is your company name on the first line, 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. The address may be used on REQ and incorporation filings; which role (head office, business address or elected domicile) fits depends on your situation, which is why this guide exists. The proof document is a signed agreement naming your company, the full civic address (2727 Rue Saint-Patrick, Suite 109) and the start date. Plans start from $35 per month before taxes (as of October 2026), with scanning from the $85 plan; see current prices at booking.2727coworking.com.
Read the mail terms against the head-office discussion above: standard letter mail is received, each envelope is photographed and you are notified, mail is held six months and picked up by appointment with photo ID, there is no forwarding, and parcels and mail requiring a signature are refused. If registered mail or bailiff service at your head office is a concern, ask us how it is handled before you file, and consider an elected domicile where signature mail can be accepted. Our guide to registered mail, bailiffs and parcels at a virtual mailbox walks through the options. Banks and platforms apply their own verification, and 2727 does not guarantee their approval. Plans can be cancelled or changed at any time, effective at the end of the paid period, so update the registries before the period ends.
2727 Coworking space, 2727 Saint-Patrick, Montreal
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I register my company or NEQ at a coworking or virtual mailbox address?
For a legal person, yes, if the company genuinely establishes its head office there and the provider's agreement allows it. The REQ asks for a domicile, and for a legal person that is its head office, a place and address in Quebec. For a sole proprietor, no: the domicile is the owner's home, but the coworking address can be declared as a professional address or establishment.
What is the difference between the head office and the elected domicile?
The head office is the legal person's domicile under the Civil Code; court documents are notified there and corporate records are kept there. The elected domicile is an optional address, with the name of a mandated person, where the Registraire sends documents under the legal publicity Act. Electing domicile does not move the head office.
Is the head office the same as the mailing address?
Not necessarily. The register has no "mailing address" field; the closest equivalent is the elected domicile. The CRA has a separate mailing address that may differ from the physical address. Many small companies use one address for everything, but the roles stay distinct.
Can I use a case postale (PO box) as my business address with the REQ?
Not as a professional address, which the Registraire expressly excludes. A head office is a place where documents are left with a person and records are kept, which a PO box cannot be, and federal registered offices and CRA physical addresses exclude PO boxes too. A civic address with a unit or mailbox number is not a PO box.
How do I change my business address with the REQ?
Log in to Mon bureau, open "Gestion de l'entreprise", choose the current update declaration (or the annual one if your filing period is open), change the domicile and every other affected address, and submit. File within 30 days of the change.
How much does an REQ address change cost?
Nothing at regular processing. Priority processing costs $53 for a business corporation, $20.50 for a sole proprietor or nonprofit and $31.50 for a partnership, as of October 2026.
What is the deadline to report a new address to the REQ?
Thirty days after the change, under section 41 of the Act respecting the legal publicity of enterprises.
What is the difference between "mise à jour courante" and "mise à jour annuelle"?
The current update reports a change during the year, within 30 days, and is free. The annual update is mandatory every year, even without changes, during a set filing period, and includes the annual registration fee.
When is the REQ annual updating declaration due?
January 1 to June 15 for sole proprietors and partnerships; May 15 to November 15 for legal persons; with joint filing, a corporation has six months after its year end. Your exact date is in the "Dates des mises à jour" section of your statement of information.
What happens if I miss the annual updating declaration?
A late filing carries a penalty of 50% of the annual fee. Missing two consecutive years can lead to ex officio cancellation, and a cancelled Quebec corporation or nonprofit is deemed dissolved until a revocation is obtained.
What is the difference between Mon bureau and Mon dossier?
Mon bureau is the Registraire des entreprises portal where you file REQ declarations. Mon dossier pour les entreprises is Revenu Québec's portal for tax files, including its own change of address. You need both updated after a move.
How do I log in to Mon bureau with my NEQ?
Use clicSÉQUR Express with your 10-digit NEQ and the 8-character access code that was mailed to your enterprise, or use clicSÉQUR Entreprises with a user code and password. If the code was lost, follow the "lost or forgotten code" link on the login page.
Where do I find my NEQ?
On your registration documents, in Mon bureau, or by searching your enterprise's name in the public enterprise register, which is free.
Does changing my address at the REQ update Revenu Québec and the CRA?
No. Change it at Revenu Québec in Mon dossier pour les entreprises and at the CRA in your CRA account (Profile, Manage addresses). Federal corporations also notify Corporations Canada within 15 days.
How do I write my address with a suite or mailbox number?
Put the unit number before the civic number with a hyphen, or after the street with "SUITE" (English) or "BUREAU" (French), or on the line above. Do not translate the street name. If your provider assigned a mailbox number, copy the exact line from your agreement into every filing. At 2727 there is none: write your company name, 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.
What does "adresse corporative" mean on the REQ?
It is not a register field. People usually mean the domicile of a legal person, that is, its head office. Ask whoever requests it which address they need: domicile, elected domicile or establishment.
What government mail will arrive at my registered address?
Registraire letters (including requests with deadlines and the clicSÉQUR Express code), Revenu Québec communications unless you chose electronic-only delivery, some CRA paper mail, and, at the head office, court documents served by bailiff or registered mail.
What happens to registered mail or a bailiff at a virtual mailbox address?
It depends on the provider. Some refuse signature-required mail, and 2727's mailbox plans do. Ask before filing, and if needed, elect domicile where signed mail can be accepted and make sure you are reachable at once. Our registered mail and bailiff guide covers the details.
Can a nonprofit (OBNL) use a virtual address as its head office?
The law requires a head office located in Quebec, entered on form RE-303 as a complete address. The Registraire's definitions do not say that address must be leased office space, but the provider must accept nonprofit clients and the address must handle official mail reliably. Ask the provider before filing, and a notary if the structure is unusual.
Does a federal or out-of-province company need a Quebec head office?
No. It needs to register in Quebec if it carries on activity here, and if it has no domicile or establishment in Quebec it must appoint an attorney residing in Quebec, even if it declares an address for service.
Do I need a board resolution to move my head office?
For a Quebec business corporation, yes: a board resolution within the same judicial district, or a special resolution of shareholders to move to another district. The REQ declaration then reports the change.
Is my business address public on the REQ?
Mostly. The domicile of a company or partnership, the elected domicile, the establishments and professional addresses are public. A natural person's home address (a director's, a shareholder's or a sole proprietor's domicile) is published unless a professional address is declared, and even then a court bailiff may consult it.
Can several companies use the same address?
The Registraire's published definitions do not address it. Whether a provider allows several companies on one mailbox is a contractual question, so ask before filing.
Can I list my coworking address on Google Business Profile?
Only if you meet Google's conditions for coworking offices: clear signage, customers received there and your own staff present during business hours. A virtual office that only receives mail is not eligible.
Conclusion
The Quebec enterprise register is precise about addresses even if everyday language is not. The domicile tells the world where a legal person legally lives, and for a sole proprietor it is simply home. The elected domicile tells the Registraire where to send documents, with a named person to receive them. Establishments describe where the work happens. Professional addresses keep individuals' homes off a public database, but never through a PO box. Once those roles are clear, the questions prospects ask most often answer themselves: a company can put its head office at a coworking or virtual mailbox address when that is its real arrangement and the mail is handled; a self-employed person cannot move their domicile there but can use it as a professional address; and a PO box belongs on an envelope, not in the domicile field.
Changing any of these addresses is cheap and quick: a free current update declaration in Mon bureau, within 30 days, plus separate updates at Revenu Québec, the CRA and, for federal corporations, Corporations Canada. What is expensive is neglect: late penalties, a published home address, missed letters and, at worst, a cancelled and dissolved company. Decide the role first, document the address, file in Mon bureau, check the public statement, and only then cancel the old arrangement. For unusual structures, out-of-province companies or anything involving litigation, a notary or lawyer is worth the call.
2727 Coworking space, 2727 Saint-Patrick, Montreal
References
[1] Description of information relating to a file in the register, Gouvernement du Québec
[2] Act respecting the legal publicity of enterprises (chapter P-44.1), LégisQuébec
[7] Faire une déclaration de mise à jour courante au registre des entreprises (French only), Gouvernement du Québec
[8] File an Annual Updating Declaration in the Enterprise Register, Gouvernement du Québec
[9] Faire une déclaration de mise à jour de correction au registre des entreprises (French only), Gouvernement du Québec
[10] Faire une déclaration initiale d'une personne morale au registre des entreprises (French only), Gouvernement du Québec
[11] Legal Obligations Stemming from Registration, Gouvernement du Québec
[12] Civil and Penal Sanctions Stemming from Registration, Gouvernement du Québec
[13] Québec Enterprise Number (NEQ), Gouvernement du Québec
[14] About the Registration of an Enterprise, Gouvernement du Québec
[15] Déclarer l'adresse professionnelle des personnes physiques inscrites au registre des entreprises (French only), Gouvernement du Québec
[16] Access My Office at the Registraire des Entreprises, Gouvernement du Québec
[17] Services disponibles et configuration nécessaire dans Mon bureau au Registraire des entreprises (French only), Gouvernement du Québec
[18] Répondre à une demande du Registraire des entreprises (French only), Gouvernement du Québec
[19] Tarifs du Registraire des entreprises pour une société par actions (French only), Gouvernement du Québec
[20] Tarifs du Registraire des entreprises pour une personne physique exploitant une entreprise individuelle (French only), Gouvernement du Québec
[21] Tarifs du Registraire des entreprises pour une personne morale sans but lucratif (French only), Gouvernement du Québec
[22] Tarifs du Registraire des entreprises pour une société de personnes (French only), Gouvernement du Québec
[23] Tarifs du Registraire des entreprises pour une société par actions non constituée au Québec, une autre personne morale non constituée au Québec et une fiducie commerciale (French only), Gouvernement du Québec
[24] Revoke an Ex Officio Cancellation of an Enterprise in the Enterprise Register, Gouvernement du Québec
[25] Zone entreprise (French only), Gouvernement du Québec
[26] Accéder à mes dossiers d'entreprise (French only), Gouvernement du Québec
[27] Constituer une société par actions québécoise (French only), Gouvernement du Québec
[28] Constituer une personne morale sans but lucratif (French only), Gouvernement du Québec
[29] Guide concernant la demande de constitution en personne morale sans but lucratif (RE-303.G), Registraire des entreprises
[30] Register a Foreign Legal Person in Québec, Gouvernement du Québec
[31] About the Enterprise Register, Gouvernement du Québec
[32] Comment inscrire une entreprise à clicSÉQUR?, clicSÉQUR Entreprises
[33] Mon dossier pour les entreprises, Revenu Québec
[34] Canada Business Corporations Act, section 19, Justice Laws Website
[35] Instructions for completing Form 2: Initial Registered Office Address and First Board of Directors, Corporations Canada
[36] Services, fees and processing times, Corporations Canada
[37] Change a business address, Canada Revenue Agency
[38] Online mail for business, Canada Revenue Agency
[39] Addressing guidelines: Civic address, Canada Post
[40] Addressing guidelines: Symbols and abbreviations, Canada Post
[41] Forward mail when you move or relocate, Canada Post
[42] Guidelines for representing your business on Google, Google Business Profile Help
