EQ Bank Business Account for a sole proprietor — what it needs (verified 24 Oct 2026)

The order of operations matters

EQ Bank does not accept unregistered sole proprietors. Their own business page lists what they support and flatly excludes the rest:

"We do not currently support trusts, partnerships, charities, not-for-profit businesses, unregistered sole proprietors, or businesses owned by another business."

So there are two separate registrations, in this order:

Ontario business name registration — Ontario Business Registry, $60, valid 5 years (renew within 6 months before / 60 days after expiry; same $60). Ontario.ca "Register your business online": Sole Proprietorship – $60. Registration is required under the Business Names Act if he trades under any name other than his own legal name.
EQ Bank Business Account application — online, free, after #1 (and after an EQ personal account exists — see below).

What EQ's Business Account actually is

Feature	EQ Bank Business Account
Monthly fee	$0, no minimum balance
Interest	2.25% on the entire balance
Interac e-Transfers	50 free (their comparison table puts other banks at "up to 20 free")
Sign-up	Fully online, "in minutes"
Support	7 days a week

Documents / inputs required for a registered sole proprietor

From EQ's own "checklist for documents required": - Personal identification - Business registration (the Ontario registration from step 1 — BRN/name and address must match the Business Registry exactly)

Eligibility rules that will bounce an application: - Canadian resident, age of majority in his province - SIN required (optional only for corporations) - Must have authority to bind the business - A Canadian mobile phone number is required to sign up online - Only one individual per business may open the account - Not available to Quebec residents/businesses, trusts, partnerships, charities, NFP, or a business owned by another business - If he wants both personal and business accounts: open the personal account first and use the same email address for both

Most common application failures, per EQ: phone number in the existing personal profile is missing or wrong, or the application doesn't match the Business Registry (address, BRN, director info).

The CDIC point that changes the plan

EQ's business FAQ: deposits by a sole proprietorship are not separate from the sole proprietor — they are combined with the individual's personal deposits for CDIC purposes.

Consequence: putting $100,000 of business money in the EQ Business Account does not create a new $100,000 CDIC bucket. It shares his existing personal $100,000 at Equitable Bank. Max insured at EQ for the whole household is still $100k personal + $100k Kiratee personal + $100k joint = $300k (see eq_bank_joint_cdic.md, 23 Oct). A business balance above his personal headroom is uninsured.

Blocked on

The business name he wants to register (and the address for service) — needed before the $60 registration, and the exact name must then match between Ontario registry and EQ.
Whether the business is truly a sole proprietorship (this task) or CADsmart is already a corporation — if incorporated, EQ wants business registration + director information + CRA Program Account Number instead, and he must be a >25% shareholder, signing officer and director.