How to register a sole proprietorship — and autofill 5288 with my-id.ca
Register your sole proprietorship without retyping owner details
Sole proprietors registering a business name repeat owner legal name, proposed business name, principal place of business, and contact information on every Business Names Act registration. This guide is an example of storing them once in my-id.ca.
Official form and source
Start from the official source and always use the current version — form numbers and links can change:
- Service page: Ontario Business Registry — ontario.ca
- Form (Central Forms Repository): Register a Sole Proprietorship - Business Names Act — 5288
What this form is about
Form 5288 registers a sole proprietorship under the Business Names Act — confirm name search and filing on ontario.ca.
Before you start: what to gather
- Owner legal name and home address.
- Proposed business name and principal place of business.
- Contact phone and email.
- Name search or consent — confirm on ontario.ca.
Confirm the current process on ontario.ca.
How my-id.ca makes it faster
- Save it once. Store your owner name, address, and contact details in your my-id.ca profile.
- Keep documents ready. Upload supporting documents to my-id.ca Files so you are not searching at form time.
- Autofill the form. Use the my-id.ca Chrome extension on a web form, or fill a PDF from your saved profile inside my-id.ca.
- Review and submit yourself through the official channel.
Why do it in my-id.ca
Related Ontario forms repeat the same personal details. Captured once in my-id.ca — stored in Canada, with AI on its own servers — every form starts mostly complete.
Frequently asked questions
- How long is a sole proprietorship registration valid?
- Business name registrations are typically valid for five years — confirm on ontario.ca.
- How does my-id.ca help?
- It autofills owner name, address, and contact details.
- How does 5288 relate to form 5289?
- Form 5288 registers a new sole proprietorship; 5289 amends an existing registration.
Fill it once. Reuse it everywhere.
Save your information in my-id.ca once, then autofill this form and the next one — web forms with the Chrome extension, PDFs right in the app. Your data is stored in Canada and AI runs on my-id.ca's own servers, never sent to third-party AI providers.