Everything a Canadian business needs to start — and stay — in good standing in the UAE.
Four service lines. Each can be bought on its own, but most Canadian clients choose the Launch bundle, which plans them together.
Company formation in the UAE
We start with structure, not paperwork: mainland or free zone, which emirate, which legal form and which licence activities — decided against your business plan and your Canadian position.
- Structure session. LLC, sole establishment, branch of the Canadian company or free-zone company; the licence activities that match how you will actually earn revenue.
- Dubai mainland formation with the Department of Economy & Tourism: trade name, initial approval, memorandum of association, Ejari-registered premises, commercial licence and Dubai Chamber membership.
- Free-zone formation as your agent with the relevant authority — for example DMCC, DIFC, DIC/DSO or IFZA — where the activity or the tax position favours a free zone.
- Post-licence set-up: establishment card, investor and employee visas, Emirates ID, medical and biometrics, beneficial-owner register and filing, corporate-tax registration on EmaraTax, and VAT registration when the threshold is reached or voluntary registration helps.
- Bank-account file. We assemble the documents UAE banks require and present your business plan. We do not receive fees or commissions from banks.
Bringing your Canadian company to the UAE
We set up a UAE branch or subsidiary of your Canadian corporation, including legalisation of the Canadian corporate documents. Because the UAE is not a party to the Apostille Convention, every document goes through a four-step chain:
- Notarisation in Canada
- Authentication by Global Affairs Canada
- Legalisation at the UAE Embassy in Ottawa
- Attestation by the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs
We plan the slow step first
Legalisation is often the longest part of a Canadian set-up. We send your document list in week 0, before anything else, so the chain is running while we work on the structure and the plan.
Intellectual-property protection through the proper channels
Many founders arrive with a product, a brand or software that is the main value of the business — and nothing filed anywhere. Our IP pathway fixes the order of steps: ownership first, Canada first, then the UAE through the treaties both countries share.
Explore the IP pathway →File before you disclose
We tell every client on day one: do not publish, pitch or demo an invention publicly until the first application is on file. A public disclosure can cost you the right to a patent.
A business plan built for the UAE market
Written with you, from UAE data and UAE rules, for three readers: you, your bank and — where needed — DET, a free zone or the Golden Visa authorities.
How we build your plan →For licence and bank
Licence fit, operations, UAE tax and three-year projections in AED, written the way bank onboarding teams ask for it.
For raising capital
Everything in Standard, plus full market research, a financial model and a pitch summary.
Annual care
After set-up, we keep your company in good standing for a fixed annual fee — so the renewal you forgot about never becomes a fine, a frozen account or a lapsed visa.
Bookkeeping, audit and tax filing are provided by partner accounting firms under the same engagement.
- Licence renewal
- Ejari renewal
- Visa renewals and new hires
- Beneficial-owner updates
- Corporate-tax deadline calendar
- VAT deadline calendar
- IP renewal reminders
- Shareholder, manager and activity changes
- A yearly review meeting
One client manager. One checklist. One deadline calendar.
A single point of contact
Each client has one client manager from the first call to handover — no passing between departments.
Every deadline in writing
Licence, visa, tax, IP priority dates and renewals are entered in our deadline calendar and confirmed to you in writing.
Screened partners
Registered patent and trademark agents, UAE accounting firms, Canadian CPAs and legal translators, under written agreements and reviewed every year.
Not sure which service you need?
Most Canadians don’t, at first. Tell us about your business and we’ll recommend a structure on the call.