BC company annual report: due date, what it contains and what happens if you miss it

If you have received a reminder from BC Registries, your company's annual report is coming due. It is one of the simplest filings a company makes, and one of the easiest to forget, because it is tied to the date the company was incorporated rather than to its tax year.

This article covers the annual report itself: when it is due, what it contains, what happens when it is missed, and how a company that has been dissolved for not filing can be restored.

When the annual report is due

Section 51 of the Business Corporations Act requires a company to file an annual report with the registrar every year, within two months after each anniversary of the date it was recognized, which for most companies is its incorporation date. The information must be current to the most recent anniversary.

For example, a company incorporated on March 15 has a window running from March 15 to May 15 each year. The date has nothing to do with the company's fiscal year end or its corporate tax return, which are separate obligations.

What the report contains and how to file it

The annual report is not a financial statement or a tax filing. It confirms the company's basic information on the public register as of the anniversary date: its registered and records office addresses and its directors, and it can also list officers.

Directors cannot be changed on the annual report itself. If a director has changed, the company files a notice of change of directors first; that notice is due within 15 days of the change (section 127). Address changes are also filed separately before the report.

Companies can file online through the BC Registries business dashboard. The Province's filing guide, last updated May 2026, lists the fee as $44.89.

A related task in the same window: the transparency register

Private companies must keep a transparency register of their significant individuals. Section 119.3 requires the company, in the same two-month period after each anniversary, to take reasonable steps to confirm that the register is accurate, complete and up to date. This register is kept with the company's records, not filed with the annual report, but it is convenient to review both together. For the rest of the year's tasks, see our BC company annual compliance checklist.

What happens if you miss it

A company that has not filed its annual report is shown as not in good standing. That can matter when a bank, landlord, buyer or government agency asks for a certificate of good standing.

Under section 422, the registrar may dissolve a company that fails to file its annual report in each of two consecutive years. The process has several steps:

• The registrar may send the company a letter identifying the default.
• If the default is not remedied, or a satisfactory response received, within one month, the registrar may publish a notice that the company may be dissolved.
• One month after that notice, the registrar may dissolve the company unless cause is shown, the default is remedied or a court order is filed. A company can generally file one application to extend that period by six months.

Outstanding reports are filed in order, starting with the earliest. Letters and notices go to the company's registered office, so keeping that address current matters.

Why dissolution is serious

Under section 344, a dissolved company ceases to exist for any purpose, subject to limited exceptions. Property it still owns generally vests in the government, and land in BC is deemed to escheat to the government. That puts the company's bank accounts, contracts and assets in doubt, and anyone who keeps running the business is no longer doing so through a company.

Restoring a dissolved company

A dissolved company can usually be restored. Before applying, the applicant must publish notice of the application in the BC Gazette, mail notice to the company's last registered office and to its directors at the time of dissolution, and reserve a name unless the company will be restored with a numbered name (section 355).

• Full restoration can be sought from the registrar by a related person: someone who was a director, officer or shareholder when the company was dissolved, or the heir or personal representative of a shareholder (sections 354 and 356).
• Limited restoration, for a set period, for example to deal with a particular asset or legal proceeding, can be sought by any person.

The registrar can require the records and information it considers necessary for the application (section 356). Once restored, the company is deemed to have continued in existence as if it had not been dissolved (section 364), although restoration does not undo rights other people acquired in the meantime unless the court orders otherwise. Some applications go to court instead, under section 360.

Behind on annual reports, or facing dissolution? Act before the deadline

Our business lawyers can bring your annual reports and company records up to date, respond to a registrar's notice, apply to restore a dissolved company, and take over the yearly filings so the dates are not missed.

Call 604-259-2844 or send us a message to arrange a consultation at our Vancouver office.