Annual filing
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Every society files with its province’s registry once a year. What the filing asks, when it is due, and the walk through it, province by province.
Nova Scotia’s annual return
Nova Scotia’s registry filings run on two clocks. The first is the meeting. The year’s statements go to the Registry of Joint Stock Companies within fourteen days after the annual general meeting, with the list of directors.
The statements are the year’s balance sheet and its income-and-expense statement. The auditor signs them, or two directors sign where there is no auditor. File them through the Registry of Joint Stock Companies’ online service, on the Financial Statement Form. It costs nothing to file.
The second clock is the society’s own anniversary. The registration renews in the month the society was incorporated, with its fee.
The sales tax here is the HST — 14% since April 1, 2025, with 9 points of it the province’s share. The HST return stands in the federal layer.
Check the year’s two registry clocks
Nova Scotia’s registry year runs on two clocks. The statements and the list of directors are filed within fourteen days after the annual general meeting — the Act’s own window, and the short one.
The registration renews, with its fee, in the month of the anniversary of the society’s incorporation. The Registry sends a renewal notice about a month before it.
Find both dates first: a society that has failed for two consecutive years to file what the Registrar requires can be removed from the register.
(Done on the Governance page.)
Prepare the year’s papers from the books’ facts
The statements are the year’s balance sheet, showing the society’s liabilities and assets, and its statement of income and expenditure for the year, audited and signed by the auditor or, where there is no auditor, by two directors.
The list of directors stands beside them: each director’s name, address, occupation and the date of their appointment or election, as the People page holds them.
Check those facts first: a director who left in March and still standing on the list is an error the registry will keep. A change of directors is notified to the Registrar within fourteen days of the change, not held for the year’s filing.
(Done on the People page.)
File with the Registry of Joint Stock Companies
Filing happens at the Registry of Joint Stock Companies, not in this app. The statements are filed in the Registry of Joint Stock Companies’ online service, on the Financial Statement Form, and filing them costs nothing. The renewal goes through the same service with its fee.
Sign in, open the society’s filings and send the papers the last step prepared. The registry gives a confirmation — keep it, the next step records it. This step is done in the world.
(Done on the by hand page.)
Record the filing in the books
Record the filing in the society’s governance records: a record of kind Filing, saying the annual return for the year was filed, with the day and the confirmation the registry gave, in the confirmation field. A later treasurer finds the proof here, not in a predecessor’s inbox.
The year’s filings on the Tax page carry it.
(Done on the Governance page.)