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Is it better to register a company in Canada or the US?

I am looking to register my tech company as an LLC (and hopefully eventually a corporation) and I am a Canadian citizen who has my Green-Card. I live in Ontario. I don’t know whether or not I should register my company in Canada or in the US.

I don’t mind living in either place and it all depends on where the company will be better off. I noticed that a lot of top tech companies are in the US but I am not sure what the benefits are of having a company registered in the US vs registered in Canada.

I know this is a bit of a vague question but is it more preferred to have a company registered in the US rather than in Canada, or vise-versa? Is there anything I should watch out for or look into before making my final decision?

Answer 4118

There are more tech companies in the US than in Canada because there are more people, more investors, and more business clusters.

SV in particular is the IT cluster. There’s a lot of Angel and VC money flying around, a lot of successful entrepreneurs who are sharing what they know with less experienced peers, and a lot of tech talent to hire from.

SV attracts hopeful entrepreneurs in the same way that Hollywood attracts hopeful actors. But it does not follow that you must be in SV – or in the US – to succeed.

Considerations like administrative environment, tax laws, etc. aren’t so important in my opinion – they’re a cost of doing business, and if your business works they’ll matter very little.

In practice, ask yourself these three important questions:

  1. Where do you and your family want to live?

This is the most important bit, since at the end of the day your quality of life and that of your significant other and children should trump all. (You’ll burn out or your family will get ripped apart if it doesn’t.) If your family doesn’t like an area then don’t live there – simple.

  1. Of these places, which have an active business/tech scene?

You’ll likely want to find a cofounder and investors, connect with clients and partners, recruit staff, etc. Prefer areas where it’ll be easier for you to do so.

  1. Of this even smaller list, is there any place where you already know people?

The more local connections you already have in an area (friends, family, business contacts), the faster you’ll make new connections. Factor this in and decide.

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