Trademark Registration in Canada
Your US registration gives no protection in Canada; north of the border is a separate right. Applications go to CIPO, Nice classification and per-class fees apply, and no declaration of use is required. Let us work through the distinctiveness examination and Quebec language rules together.
Get your price for Canada within 24 hoursA written quote by class and scope · see the fees and official charges ↓A free attorney check and filing for your brand
Share your mark and target goods or services, and we will check the risk of an obstacle before CIPO, any distinctiveness issue and the right class plan free of charge. You decide whether to proceed once you have seen the result.
Application details
Step 1 / 2Two short steps. We do not ask for a passport or identity document at this stage.
Who needs a Canadian trademark registration?
For brands entering North America, Canada is the second leg that belongs in the plan alongside the US.
Brands expanding into North America
The US and Canada produce separate rights. If you hold a US registration, Canada is still open — someone else can register the same name there.
E-commerce and marketplace sellers
Brands selling into Canada through Amazon.ca and their own store. Platform brand programmes generally require a national registration.
Software and SaaS companies
Companies selling subscriptions to Canadian business customers. A service mark application is built on a description of services rather than goods.
Food, cosmetics and consumer goods
Brands entering retail chains. French on packaging and labelling needs separate planning because of Quebec legislation.
Franchise and retail concepts
Brands opening in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal. Registration is the legal basis of any franchise agreement.
Filing through Madrid
Canada has been a Madrid Protocol member since 2019. On multi-country portfolios it can be added as a designated country.
The 2019 reform: what changed in the Canadian system
Canada overhauled its trademark law in 2019. Filings planned on the old rules produce the wrong budget and the wrong expectations today.
Nice is mandatory
Applications follow the Nice classification and fees are calculated per class. The old flat fee irrespective of class count is gone.
No declaration of use
No declaration of use is required at filing or before registration. This is the clearest difference from the US and it shortens the process.
Ten-year protection
The term was reduced from fifteen years to ten. The renewal calendar follows from that; older registrations may have a different first renewal date.
Protocol membership
Canada joined the Madrid Protocol in 2019; it can be designated and CIPO examines under its own law.
The Canadian trademark agent requirement
Applicants based outside Canada cannot act directly before CIPO.
Distinctiveness examination and the language duality
CIPO’s examination concentrates on the two grounds that most often produce refusals on Canadian files.
The distinctiveness requirement
Descriptive signs, indications of geographic origin and commonly used terms have their distinctiveness questioned. The office may ask for evidence that the sign acquired distinctiveness through use.
English and French
Canada is officially bilingual. If the mark’s meaning in either English or French is descriptive, that can be a ground for refusal; both languages are assessed.
Quebec language legislation
Quebec has its own rules on French for commercial signage and packaging. That is a compliance matter separate from registration, but the two should be planned together.
Goods and services list
The list is written to the level of specificity CIPO accepts. Broad wording triggers an examination report and extends the timeline.
CIPO fees and costs that can arise later
In the table below, official fees and service fees sit on separate lines. Because the CIPO tariff is updated, we do not publish fixed amounts here.
Canada, the US, the European Union and the Madrid route
The four routes most often compared when entering North American and Western markets. Click a column heading to open that page.
Documents and information
The document set on a Canadian file is light; the real work sits in the distinctiveness assessment and the wording of the list.
From filing to registration
Timelines depend on CIPO’s current workload and how the file develops; no fixed period is given on this page.
- 1Assessment and strategyWe review the mark and target goods and services, then set the distinctiveness risk and the class plan.
- 2Search and list preparationIdentical and similar signs are assessed, the English and French meanings are checked, and the list is drafted to CIPO practice.
- 3FilingThe file is submitted through the CIPO system and an application number issues. An application number is not a registration certificate.
- 4ExaminationThe office reviews formal requirements, distinctiveness and earlier rights. Where a report issues, it must be answered in time.
- 5Publication and oppositionThe application is published in the Trademarks Journal; third parties may oppose within the period provided by law.
- 6RegistrationIf no opposition arrives, or it resolves in your favour, the certificate issues and protection runs for ten years.
After registration: use, watching and renewal
A Canadian registration is also a right that needs managing. The declaration went; the obligation to use did not.
Non-use risk
Three years after registration, an unused mark becomes open to cancellation on a third party’s request. Evidence of use should be archived from the outset.
Watching
Monitoring similar applications is a separate service. CIPO does not automatically notify earlier rights holders.
Renewal
Protection renews in ten-year periods and the renewal fee is calculated by class count. Missing the window puts the right at risk.
Keeping the register current
Changes of name, address and ownership must be recorded. An out-of-date entry can mean missed correspondence.