Enterprise Registrar: a Public Officer
The Enterprise Registrar is an employee appointed by the Minister of Labour, Employment and Social solidarity to perform the duties stipulated by the Act respecting the legal publicity of enterprises and by any other laws that refer to the Registraire des entreprises.
On June 4, 2018, Yves Pépin was appointed by the Minister of Employment and Social solidarity to the office of Enterprise Registrar within the Ministère du Travail, de l'Emploi et de la Solidarité sociale (Government Registers sector). The Enterprise Registrar is the head of the Registraire des entreprises.
You can submit any questions concerning the duties and responsibilities of the Enterprise Registrar by email to registre@servicesquebec.gouv.qc.ca, or by mail to:
Mr. Yves Pepin
Registraire des entreprises
Services Québec
C.P. 25300, succ. Terminus
Québec (Québec) G1A 0A4
What is a public officer?
In a government context, a public officer is someone to whom the State has granted the power to draw up or keep acts recognized as authentic or to attest to the authenticity of a copy of an act.
A document or information whose authority or provenance cannot be called into question is said to be "authentic".
Is being a public officer an honorary title?
No. Although public officers are administrators and they assume the administrative duties entrusted to them, a public officer also assumes juridical or legal responsibilities related to the public office entrusted to them by the State when they were appointed to that position.
Public officers are appointed by a minister, and their mandate is governed by legislation. In addition, they must keep a public register in which information provided for by legislation is filed and disseminated.
Public officers must not be confused with court clerks, notaries, bailiffs or surveyors, who are also public officers, but do not assume public office.
How many public officers are there in Québec?
There are four public officers in Québec:
- the registrar of civil status;
- the Enterprise Registrar;
- the Land Registrar:
- the Personal and Movable Real Rights Registrar.
Do public officers have special powers?
Acts drawn up, or copies of acts authenticated, by public officers enable persons and businesses to exercise their rights. For example, by means of the child's act of birth, a parent is able to register for the Québec Parental Insurance Plan (QPIP), and obtain the Family Allowance (Retraite Québec) as well as the Canada Child Benefit (Canada Revenue Agency).
It is an important power, which grants public officers great responsibility as regards the quality, integrity, security and sustainability of the register they administer.
That is why the legislation governing the role of public officers contains special provisions.
What special provisions apply to the Enterprise registrar?
The Act respecting the legal publicity of enterprises (ALPE) contains certain provisions specific to the Enterprise Registrar. For example:
- If the registrar is absent or unable to act, the Minister may designate a department employee to act in the registrar’s place. The registrar may, by notice and with the concurrence of the Minister, delegate some or all of the registrar’s powers to a department employee. The notice is published in the Gazette officielle du Québec.
- Except for a few cases provided for in the ALPE, any interested person may contest before the Administrative Tribunal of Québec a decision made by the registrar, or a refusal to register a registrant or to deposit a declaration or document in the register, on the ground that the name declared is contrary to certain provisions (based on the conditions specified in the Act).
- In certain cases provided for by the ALPE, a request for administrative remedies can be filed with the Enterprise Registrar, such as requesting that the registrar order an enterprise to change or no longer use a name, or requesting that the registrar correct or delete inaccurate information from the register.
- No deed, document or writing is binding on or attributable to the registrar unless it is signed by the registrar or by a department employee authorized by the registrar.