Canada is one of the world's fastest-growing business industry. And what many people may not realize is that you can start a company without living or immigrating to Canada. One must understand the rules about who can and who can't start certain types of businesses.

You can either register a business in Canada under

• the federal countrywide system, or
• under one of the Canadian provinces (ie. States).

Under the Federal system, if you are a foreigner not living in Canada you will not qualify to be the sole director of a company. However, you can be a director as long as there are other directors elected to the board members (the 25% resident Canadian requirement). If a corporation has fewer than four directors, at least one of them must be a Canadian resident. Hence, you will basically need a Canadian partner if you register a federal company.

The GREAT NEWS for foreigners is that several Canadian provinces do not require you to be a Canadian to serve as a Director and Owner of a Canadian situated company.