Does a federal corporation have better name protection than an Ontario corporation?

Yes, in a practical sense. When you incorporate federally under the Canada Business Corporations Act, the NUANS name search covers all of Canada — so your name is checked against existing corporations, business names, and trademarks from every province and territory. Once approved, your federal corporate name cannot be registered by another federal corporation anywhere in Canada.

An Ontario provincial NUANS search, by contrast, only checks for conflicts in Ontario. A business in Alberta could incorporate with a very similar name provincially in that province, and Ontario would not flag it. If you later tried to expand your Ontario corporation's operations into Alberta, you might face a name conflict you did not anticipate.

That said, a federal corporate name does not give you absolute trademark rights. If another company already has a registered trademark that is similar to your corporate name, it can still challenge your use of that name even if your incorporation was approved. Corporate name approval and trademark registration are separate systems.

For businesses with national ambitions or consumer-facing brands they want to protect broadly, combining a federal incorporation with a registered trademark gives the strongest protection. A business lawyer can help you assess which combination suits your situation.