It depends on the profession. A consultant, agency, fractional executive or corporate service provider incorporates an ordinary Ontario or federal corporation. A member of a regulated profession whose governing Act permits it practises through a professional corporation, which carries those words in its name, holds a certificate of authorization from the regulator, and has its shares held by members of the profession. A professional corporation does not limit professional liability; the firm confirms the regulator’s conditions before filing.

In a professional corporation, generally not: the shares must be held by members of the profession, and directors and officers must be shareholders. The exception applies to physicians and dentists, whose family members may hold non-voting shares. Where the plan calls for income to reach family members or a holding company, the usual route is a separate management company alongside the practice, designed by the accountant and documented by the firm. An ordinary corporation has no such restriction.

With the questions the agreement must answer: what each partner owns and contributes, how decisions are made, how a partner is admitted or bought out and at what valuation, what happens on death, disability or departure, and who retains the clients and the files if a partner leaves. Without an agreement, the statute decides those matters, and rarely in the way either partner would have chosen.

The buyer acquires either the shares of the corporation or its assets: the goodwill, the client list, the contracts and the equipment. The choice is usually tax-driven and is made with the accountant first. The agreement then covers the price and its payment, a transition period, the covenants that survive the sale, and the regulator’s approval where one is required. A staged succession is the same transaction over a longer period.

Yes. The accountant designs the structure and the firm documents it: the entities, the share terms, the management services agreement between the practice and the management company, and the intercompany arrangements that give the structure substance. The firm does not second-guess the tax advice, and identifies early where the documents cannot achieve what the plan assumes.

Three things. The corporation: a professional corporation with the college’s certificate of authorization and, for physicians and dentists, family members who may hold non-voting shares, which is where the management company and the accountant’s plan come into play. The people: associate, locum and staff agreements that determine who retains the patient relationships and the records when someone leaves. The information: the practice is a health information custodian, so consent, records, a privacy policy, portal terms and breach procedures are required documents.

A summary of the client’s situation through the contact page, with the names of the other parties so that a conflict check can be completed first. The firm acts on the corporate matter and refers everything else back; it does not compete for the client’s tax, accounting or other work, and it neither pays nor accepts referral fees. The client engages the firm directly, on written terms.