Does an Ontario general partnership need to be registered anywhere?

The partnership relationship itself doesn't require any registration or filing to exist — a general partnership arises simply from the factual relationship of carrying on business together with a view to profit, and no government filing "creates" it. This is a common source of confusion, because many people assume a partnership needs to be formally set up the way a corporation does.

Where registration does come in is the business name. If the partnership operates under a name other than the partners' own full legal names (for example, "Smith & Jones Consulting" rather than just the partners' personal names), that business name generally needs to be registered under the Business Names Act before the partnership carries on business under it. This registration is about the name, not the partnership relationship itself, and doesn't create any separate legal entity or liability protection — the partners remain personally liable exactly as they would without registering the name. If you're starting a partnership under a trade name, register the name promptly and don't assume that doing so gives the partnership any additional legal protection it wouldn't otherwise have.