Renewing your licence does not renew your corporation. That sounds obvious written down, but it is one of the most common questions regulators get, and it is common enough that the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario chose it to launch a new recurring feature in its Dialogue publication this September. On the dental side, the Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Ontario’s annual renewal deadline for Health Profession Corporations passed on August 31, and certificates that were not renewed were revoked on September 1.
If you practise through a professional corporation, whether you are a physician or a dentist, here is how each College’s rules work and what a missed renewal actually costs.
Physicians: The CPSO Certificate of Authorization
A physician who incorporates a Medicine Professional Corporation (MPC) must hold a Certificate of Authorization (COA) from CPSO. It is separate from your individual medical licence and it runs on its own schedule.
Getting one. Applications go through the CPSO Portal. You need an active CPSO licence, your Certificate of Incorporation, and an uncertified Corporation Profile Report dated within the last 30 days. The application fee is $400.
Renewing it. Your COA renewal date is based on the date your original certificate was issued, not on your licence renewal date. CPSO sends a reminder through the Portal 45 days before the deadline. The renewal fee is $175.
Missing it. If the COA is not renewed within 60 days of the renewal deadline, CPSO revokes it. Revocation does not affect your medical licence, and you can keep practising as an individual. But your corporation can no longer legally operate as an MPC, and CPSO is direct about the fallout: revocation has “tax implications and may create issues with banking, insurance, contractual, or other business arrangements.”
Dentists: The RCDSO Health Profession Corporation Certificate
Dental professional corporations hold a Health Profession Corporation (HPC) Certificate of Authorization from RCDSO. Unlike the CPSO model, every dental HPC certificate expires on the same date.
Renewing it. All HPC certificates expire August 31 each year and are renewed through the RCDSO Portal. The fee is $175 if paid on or before July 31, and $200 if paid in August. If you hold more than one HPC, each corporation needs its own renewal.
Missing it. Certificates not renewed by August 31 are revoked effective September 1. RCDSO sends notice of the proposed revocation at least 60 days before the deadline. A revoked certificate cannot be renewed. You have to submit a new application, which costs $750 and typically takes two to three weeks to process. Until it is issued, the corporation cannot legally operate as a professional corporation for dental services.
If this is you right now: a dental corporation that missed the August 31 deadline is already in the new-application process, not the renewal process. Every week without a certificate is a week the corporation is not authorized to operate.
Side by Side
| CPSO (Physicians) | RCDSO (Dentists) | |
|---|---|---|
| Certificate | Certificate of Authorization for a Medicine Professional Corporation | Certificate of Authorization for a Health Profession Corporation |
| Renewal date | Based on your original certificate date | August 31 for everyone |
| Reminder | Portal notice 45 days before | Notice of proposed revocation at least 60 days before |
| Renewal fee | $175 | $175 by July 31, $200 in August |
| If missed | Revoked if not renewed within 60 days of the deadline | Revoked September 1 |
| To get it back | New application, $400 | New application, $750, two to three weeks |
Why This Slips Through
The corporation renewal is easy to miss for the same reason it matters: it is a business obligation, not a clinical one. The licence renewal is front of mind because it affects your ability to practise. The corporation renewal is a smaller fee, often a different date, and in many practices nobody is clearly responsible for it. The physician assumes the accountant is tracking it, the accountant assumes the office manager is, and the Portal reminder goes to an inbox that nobody checks closely.
The cost of that gap is not the renewal fee. It is the period your corporation spends unable to operate as a professional corporation, and the tax, banking, insurance and contract questions that follow.
What You Should Do
- Find your certificate date. Physicians: look up when your MPC’s Certificate of Authorization was originally issued. That is your renewal anchor. Dentists: your date is August 31, every year.
- Put it in a shared calendar, not just a personal one, with a reminder at least 60 days ahead.
- Name one owner. Decide who in your practice is responsible for corporation renewals, and tell your accountant who that is.
- Keep your Corporation Profile Report current. CPSO requires one dated within 30 days for a new application, so a lapse becomes harder to fix if your corporate records are out of date.
- Confirm Portal notifications reach you. Make sure the email address on your CPSO or RCDSO Portal account is one you actually read.
- If a certificate has lapsed, act now. Submit the new application and speak with your accountant about the period the corporation was not authorized.
How MAP Can Help
Professional corporation renewals are exactly the kind of deadline that falls between a clinician, an accountant and an office manager. MAP’s Accounting and Finance and Risk and Compliance teams build these dates into a single practice compliance calendar so they are tracked, owned and met every year. Learn more at maphcm.com.