On: A Y Combinator Story - What's the interview like?

If you're in Canada, and you set up a sole proprietorship for your dad, then you didn't incorporate it. Corporations and sole proprietorships are mutually exclusive categories of companies. Setting up a sole proprietorship is as easy as going to a business kiosk and filling out some forms.

Setting up a sole proprietorship is as easy as going to a business kiosk and filling out some forms.

I think in BC you don't even need to register if you use your own name, so it's completely free (money/bureaucracy).

That is also true in Ontario, Canada; you are not required to incorporate if you're using your own name for the business.

You're using the word "incorporate" incorrectly, which was my original point. To incorporate means to start a corporation. Therefore, registering a sole-proprietorship is, by definition, not incorporation.

The more general term is "register", which applies to the three forms of business: sole-proprietorships, partnerships, and corporations.

What you're thinking of is a business name registration. If you do business as your exact name, you don't need to register a name. If you make more than, $30k (I think), then you do need to register for a GST number.