A friend and I are talking about starting a small business in New
Brunswick, Canada.  A handful of people have already expressed
interest in our services, but we are only in the very early stages of
this consideration.  Making inquiries at a local bank, we were told
that we can not set up a small business chequing account until we are
registered as a business in this province, perhaps with a Business
Number, etc.  We are not yet prepared for the cost of these procedures
and want to know if there is a way that we can start our service
sooner rather than later.  Should we simply open a personal chequing
account in one of our names in the interim, until we get things in
order, or is it necessary to register a business first?

Hi again, tripcrip!

You are required to register a business name within two months of
starting a business in New Brunswick. It's not a big expense ($112 +
the cost of the name search) and you'll be glad it is done. If you
were the sole proprietor you could submit your registration online,
however, given that you're forming a partnership, you'll have to mail
it in. That said, the best thing for you to do is to get in touch with
the Canada-New Brunswick Business Service Centre in Fredericton. One
of their mandates is to help new businesses get started.

Canada-New Brunswick Business Service Centre
570 Queen Street
Fredericton, NB
E3B 6Z6
Tel. #: 1-506-444-6140
Toll Free #:1-800-668-1010
Info Fax #: 1-800-401-3201
Fax #: 1-506-444-6172

PROCEDURAL REQUIREMENTS TO REGISTER A PARTNERSHIP
General Information
"The registration of a partnership in the Province of New Brunswick is
normally done by persons engaged in a partnership for trading,
manufacturing or mining purposes within New Brunswick. Registration
may be done by filing the enclosed Form 1, Certificate of Partnership.
This registration is required within two months of commencing business
in New Brunswick. Notwithstanding that the time period for registering
the certificate has expired, the Registrar may permit the registration
of the certificate.
Please note the enclosed ?Additional Information Form? must also
accompany the registration documents that will be sent to Corporate
Affairs.
The filing fee for registration is $112 ($100 registration fee and $12
for publication in the Royal Gazette). Your cheque should be made
payable to Service New Brunswick.
PLEASE SEND APPLICATION TO:
SERVICE NEW BRUNSWICK
CORPORATE AFFAIRS
P. O. BOX 1998,
432 QUEEN STREET
FREDERICTON, NB
E3B 5G4
Tel. : (506) 453-2703
Fax #: (506) 453-2613
https://www.web11.snb.ca/snb7001/b/1000/CSS-FOL-SNB-45-0005B.pdf

Selecting a Proposed Name for a Provincial Company/Corporation,
Partnership and/or Business Name.
https://www.web11.snb.ca/snb7001/b/1000/CSS-FOL-SNB-45-0004B.pdf

Registration of a Partnership - Additional Information Form
https://www.web11.snb.ca/snb7001/e/1000/CSS-FOL-SNB-45-0018E.pdf

Form 1  - Certificate of Partnership or Certificate of Renewal of Partnership
https://www.web11.snb.ca/snb7001/e/1000/CSS-FOL-45-3498e.pdf

Business Start-Up Assistant
"Before registration, the proposed name must be checked against a
NUANS name search report (Atlantic based) and if available may be
reserved for a period not exceeding 90 days.  The name search must be
done through a private sector name search firm.  The NUANS name search
report must be forwarded with the application documents."
http://www.cbsc.org/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=CBSC_NB/display&c=Regs&cid=1083346994419&lang=en

Welcome to NUANSŪ
The NUANSŪ Search System
"NUANSŪ (Newly Upgraded Automated Name Search) is a computerized
search system that compares a proposed corporate name or trade-mark
with databases of existing corporate bodies and trade-marks. This
comparison determines the similarity that exists between the proposed
name or mark and existing names in the database, and produces a
listing of names that are found to be most similar."
http://www.nuans.com/nuansinfo_en/home-accueil_en.htm

Additional Links of Interest:

Business Start Up Assistant
[click the links in the left-hand column - they lead to lots of other links]
http://bsa.cbsc.org/gol/bsa/site.nsf/en/su06957.html

Service New Brunswick Online
Partnerships
"Partnerships, which carry on business in New Brunswick, are required
to register their partnership name under the Partnerships and Business
Names Registration Act if they are engaged in business carried on for
trading, mining or manufacturing purposes. (Trading is
administratively viewed as the sale of goods)."
http://www.snb.ca/e/6000/6604e.asp

Canada/New Brunswick Business Service Center
http://www.cbsc.org/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=CBSC_NB/display&c=Regs&cid=1083346992176&lang=en


I hope this helps to get you off to a good start. As always, please
let me know if you have any questions.

Thank you,
hummer

Google Search Terms Used: registering new business new brunswick