A Startup Legal Checklist

• Named or numbered company?
• Federal or Provincial incorporation?
• How many share classes and what rights will be attributed to each class?
• To incorporate your startup online with Wires Law, click here.

Shareholder registers, and for Federal Companies, a register of beneficial ownership are required by law. 

Depending on the nature of your business, consider entering a co-founder or shareholder agreement. These agreements can deal with important issues like:

• the management of the company;
• issuing new shares and raising money;
• hiring and firing employees;
• shareholder loans or incurring expenses; 
• what happens on the resignation of a co-founder;
• the assignment of intellectual property rights;
• trigger events (death, disability, bankruptcy etc.);
• access to and control of bank accounts and spending. 

For some companies (particularly tech companies) your intellectual property is your main and in some cases your only asset. Spending the time, effort and money to create an innovative product equally deserves the investment required to protect it. The stories of great products being copied by competitors are numerous. Consider what intellectual property and confidential information you have, and ways to protect it, including trademarks, patents, confidentiality agreements, copyright protection and others. 

If you are collecting personal information, chances are you are required to have a privacy policy setting out what information you collect and how you use it. With many companies offering their products and services globally, privacy law is becoming increasingly difficult to navigate. For example, is your business GDPR ready? 

While you need to be careful with tax considerations, issuing shares or options for services is an appealing way for start-ups, and even larger companies, to attract and retain talent. 

Consider if there are contractual rights you want to secure with third-parties like distributors, licensor and suppliers.