How to Register a Trademark in Canada: CIPO Steps, Real Timelines and What Foreign Owners Need

To register a trademark in Canada, you file one application with the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO), listing your goods and services grouped by Nice class. CIPO examines it, publishes it, allows 2 months for oppositions and then registers it, with no registration fee and no declaration of use for applications filed since 17 June 2019. CIPO’s current target is a first examiner action within 14 months of filing, but the full process averaged 34.5 months from filing to registration in its latest annual report (2024-25). Foreign owners can file without a Canadian agent or address, although only a licensed trademark agent may act for someone else, which is why most register their trademark in Canada through a representative.

Verified on 26 October 2026 against the Trademarks Act and the Trademarks Regulations (both current to 30 September 2026), CIPO’s service standards, performance targets and statistics, WIPO’s Madrid notice for Canada and CIRA’s .ca policy. Each row below names its source. Fees change every year, so this page does not list them.

Canada trademark registration at a glance

Question	Answer	Source
Where do you file?	CIPO, online (or through the Madrid System from your home office)	CIPO
Who can file?	Anyone using or proposing to use the mark in Canada, of any nationality	Trademarks Act, s.30(1)
Is an agent required?	No to file, pay fees or renew; yes if someone else represents you in other business before the Office	Trademarks Regulations, s.25
Is a Canadian address required?	Not to file; a postal address anywhere is enough. It matters in oppositions	Regulations, ss.31(a), 45; Act, s.38(3)
Classification	Nice Classification, mandatory; 13th edition since 1 January 2026	Act, s.30(3); CIPO
First examiner action	Target: within 14 months of filing (for 90% of applications)	CIPO performance targets 2026-27
Filing to registration	34.5 months on average in 2024-25	CIPO Annual Report 2024-25
Opposition period	2 months from advertisement	Act, s.38(1)
Proof of use to register	Not required	Act, s.71
Duration	10 years from registration, renewable every 10 years	Act, s.46(1)
Non-use	Registration can be challenged after 3 years if the mark is not used	Act, s.45

How to register a trademark in Canada, step by step

1. Search first. CIPO refuses a mark that is confusing with a registered trademark (Act, s.12(1)(d)) or with an earlier pending application (s.37(1)(c)), and it also refuses names and surnames, clearly descriptive marks and generic names (s.12(1)). A trademark search in Canada before filing is the cheapest way to avoid a refusal 14 months later.
2. Prepare the application. It needs the applicant’s name and postal address, a representation or description of the mark, and the goods or services “in ordinary commercial terms”, each one specific and grouped by Nice class (Act, s.30(2)-(3); Regulations, ss.29 and 31). One mark per application, in English or French (Regulations, ss.27-28). Words in another language need a translation (s.31(d)).
3. File and get a filing date. CIPO issues the filing date within 5 business days for a complete electronic application. If something minimum is missing, you have 2 months to supply it, with no extension (Act, s.33). If you filed the same mark abroad in the last 6 months, you can claim that earlier date as priority (s.34).
4. Examination. The examiner checks the application against the Act. CIPO cannot refuse without first sending its objections and giving you “adequate opportunity to answer” (s.37(2)). For marks that are not inherently distinctive, or for a colour, shape, sound, scent, taste or texture, CIPO can ask for evidence of distinctiveness (s.32).
5. Advertisement. Once approved, the application is published on CIPO’s website, in the Trademarks Journal (Regulations, s.41).
6. Opposition window. Anyone can oppose within 2 months of advertisement (Act, s.38(1)), on grounds that include bad faith (s.38(2)(a.1)). Under CIPO’s opposition practice an opponent can get extensions: a 2-month benchmark and up to 7 more months with your consent; for Madrid applications the total extension is capped at 4 months.
7. Registration. If nobody opposes, or an opposition is decided in your favour, CIPO registers the mark and issues the certificate (s.40). For applications filed since 17 June 2019 there is no registration fee (the fee in the Regulations applies only to older applications) and no declaration of use (s.71).

How long does it take? The official numbers

The wait used to be dominated by the time before an examiner even opened the file. CIPO has been cutting that backlog, and the numbers it publishes show how much:

Measure	Figure	Source and date
Service standard for the first action (approval or examiner’s report)	14 months from filing, for services requested since 1 April 2026	CIPO client service standards, 28 May 2026
Previous standard (April 2025 to March 2026)	18 months	CIPO, 31 March 2026
Performance against the 14-month target	100% from April to August 2026	CIPO performance targets, 14 October 2026
Applications waiting for a first action	176,296 in March 2025; 101,894 in March 2026	CIPO monthly production statistics
Average time from filing to registration	34.5 months in 2024-25 (31.4 in 2023-24)	CIPO Annual Report 2024-25
Madrid designations of Canada	First action within 14 months of WIPO’s notification; refusals must be notified within 18 months	CIPO targets; WIPO Notice 45/2019
Volume	74,793 applications filed in 2025 (+9%)	IP Canada Report 2026

Read together: if your application is clean, expect the first answer from CIPO a little over a year after filing, then publication and the 2-month opposition window. The 34.5-month average to registration is the most recent full-year figure; it predates the drop in the backlog, so new filings should do better, but CIPO has not yet published a newer average. Any examiner’s report, extension or opposition adds time.

Can you speed it up? Only in four situations, and there is no fee: a court action expected or underway in Canada, counterfeit goods at the Canadian border, being severely disadvantaged on online marketplaces, or a foreign office’s priority deadline. The request goes by mail or fax with an affidavit or statutory declaration, and the advantage is lost if you ask for an extension or miss a deadline (CIPO practice notice on expedited examination).

Foreign owners: agent, address and the Madrid route

• You can file yourself. The Regulations let any person represent themselves to file an application, pay fees and renew (s.25(3)), and CIPO’s guide says “You do not have to hire an agent but it is often advisable to do so.”
• Only licensed agents may represent others. In any other business before the Office, “a person may be represented by another person only if that other person is a trademark agent” (Regulations, s.25(1)), meaning a licensee of the College of Patent Agents and Trademark Agents. Representing someone without a licence is prohibited (College Act, s.71). CIPO warns: “Beware of unregistered trademark agents!” Once you appoint an agent, only that agent can act for you (s.25(2)).
• No Canadian address is needed to file. The old “representative for service” requirement was repealed in 2014; the application asks only for the applicant’s “name and postal address” (Regulations, s.31(a)), and CIPO’s e-filing screen for a Canadian address for service is optional. In an opposition, an applicant without an agent may give an address in Canada for service (s.45), and a foreign opponent must (Act, s.38(3)(b)).
• Madrid works in one direction for most foreigners. Canada has been in the Madrid Protocol since 17 June 2019 (WIPO Notice 45/2019), so you can designate Canada from your home office. But a Canadian application can serve as the basis for an international one only if you are a Canadian national, domiciled in Canada or have a real establishment there (Regulations, s.98).
• Translations. Any non-English, non-French word in the mark needs a translation (s.31(d)), and the application itself must be in English or French.

After registration: renewal and use

A Canadian registration lasts 10 years from the registration date and renews for 10-year periods (Act, s.46(1)); our Canada renewal page covers the deadlines, including the 15-year term of registrations made before 17 June 2019. There is no periodic proof of use, but after three years from registration anyone can ask CIPO to send a notice requiring the owner to show, within three months, use in Canada during the previous three years (s.45). A mark you are not using is exposed.

From a Canadian trademark to a .ca domain

The .ca domain is restricted to people and organisations that meet CIRA’s Canadian Presence Requirements. One of the categories is a foreign owner of a trademark registered in Canada: clause (q) allows such an owner to register “a .ca domain name consisting of or including the exact word component of that registered trade-mark” (CIRA, Canadian Presence Requirements, version 1.3). CIRA asks for a copy of the Canadian registration, says international trademarks are not valid for this purpose, and requires the trademark owner to be the domain registrant. Only a registered Canadian mark qualifies, so on CIPO’s figures the .ca route opens years after filing, not the day you apply.

What changed in 2026

• The first-action standard dropped from 18 to 14 months on 1 April 2026.
• CIPO applies the 13th edition of the Nice Classification since 1 January 2026.
• Since 15 April 2026 applicants can opt out of the pre-assessment letter when filing (the choice cannot be changed later).
• Some trademark fees rise by 1.7% on 1 January 2027 under the Service Fees Act (CIPO fees page).
• Neither the Trademarks Act nor the Regulations were amended in 2026; the last amendment took effect on 1 April 2025.

Checklist before you file in Canada

1. Search the Canadian register for identical and similar marks in your classes.
2. Write a specific list of goods and services, grouped by Nice class (13th edition).
3. Check whether a foreign filing from the last 6 months gives you a priority date.
4. Decide who represents you: yourself, or a licensed Canadian trademark agent for anything beyond filing and fees.
5. Plan for a first answer about 14 months after filing and a 2-month opposition window after publication.
6. If you want a .ca, plan it for after registration.
7. Diary the 3-year non-use date and the 10-year renewal.

Ready to file? Start with a Canadian trademark search or go straight to trademark registration in Canada. If you are weighing Canada against a wider filing, our comparison of national and international trademark registration explains when the Madrid System makes sense.