T2 Schedule 50: list every 10% shareholder, up to the top 10

Who has to be listed on Schedule 50?

Every private corporation must complete Schedule 50 for any shareholder who holds 10% or more of its common and/or preferred shares canada.ca. The T4012 guide adds the cap: give a maximum of the 10 top shareholders canada.ca. The trigger is line 173 on the T2 (2025 and later tax years), which asks private corporations whether any shareholder owns 10% or more of the common and/or preferred shares, and points to Schedule 50 on a yes canada.ca.

The and/or wording is the line preparers miss most. A family member with a small slice of the common but a block of estate freeze preferred shares is on the schedule, even though they control nothing.

What goes in each column, from line 100 to line 500?

The current form is T2 SCH 50 E (19), titled for 2006 and later tax years canada.ca. It has one row per shareholder and six columns, and you provide only one number per shareholder: a business number, partnership account number, SIN or trust number canada.ca.

Fill in one of lines 200, 300 and 350, not two. An individual who also runs a sole proprietorship with a BN still goes in with the SIN. A corporation or partnership with no BN, such as a foreign holdco, gets "NR" on line 200 canada.ca. A trust's number comes from its T3 account; see our trust account number page if the trust doesn't have one yet, and our business number page for a corporate shareholder.

The form is marked Protected B when completed, because it carries SINs canada.ca. Treat the working copy in your file accordingly.

How does an Opco with four shareholders fill in Schedule 50?

Opco has 100 Class A common shares and 1,000 Class B preferred shares issued at its year end. Every share carries one vote within its class.

Each percentage is the holding divided by the shares issued in that class: Jane has 25 ÷ 100 = 25% of the common and 700 ÷ 1,000 = 70% of the preferred. Raj sits below 10% of the common, but 300 ÷ 1,000 = 30% of the preferred puts him on the schedule. All four rows go on Schedule 50.

Now check the rest of the T2. Smith Holdings controls Opco with 55% of the common, so Opco is related to it: line 150 is yes and Schedule 9 goes on the return canada.ca. If Smith Holdings is a Canadian private corporation that no non resident controls, Opco can still be a CCPC on line 040; if it isn't, see our CCPC definition page before you tick the box.

Do lines 400 and 500 mean percentage of shares or of votes?

The column headings say percentage of common shares and percentage of preferred shares canada.ca. The T4012 guide adds a note that lines 400 and 500 refer to percentage of votes, on the basis that each share generally carries one vote canada.ca.

In a class where every share has one vote, the two readings give the same number, as in the Opco example. They split when a class is nonvoting or carries multiple votes per share. The CRA hasn't published a worked rule for that case, so pick the basis, apply it to every row, and keep the share register and the articles in your file showing how each figure was computed. A nonvoting preferred holder at 10% or more of the class is still a shareholder of that class under the form's own wording.

How do you report holdcos, trusts, bare trusts and nominees?

A holding company is a shareholder in its own right: list it as a corporation with its BN, or "NR" if it has none canada.ca. The form has no look through instruction, so the individuals behind the holdco don't appear on Opco's Schedule 50 unless they also hold Opco shares directly. Indirect ownership shows up elsewhere: in the related and associated tests on Schedule 9 (our Schedule 9 and associated corporations pages cover them) and in the control test behind line 040.

A family trust that holds shares is listed as a trust with its trust number on line 350, and its percentage is the trust's holding. The beneficiaries are not listed, because the trust is the shareholder.

Nominee and bare trust holdings need a judgment call, because the schedule says nothing about them. For income tax purposes, s.104(1) deems an arrangement where the trust can reasonably be considered to act as agent for all the beneficiaries with respect to all dealings with all of its property not to be a trust, for most purposes of the Act laws-lois.justice.gc.ca. Reporting the beneficial owner is consistent with that treatment and with the ownership you rely on for Schedule 9 and line 040. Note the nominee arrangement in your file. Whether the bare trust itself has a T3 filing obligation is a separate question, covered on our bare trust filing page.

Which other T2 answers must agree with Schedule 50?

Schedule 50 is the CRA's view of who owns the corporation, so the answers around it on the T2 should tell the same story.

The line numbers and questions are from the T2 for 2025 and later tax years canada.ca. Line 040 is answered at the end of the tax year, and the CRA warns that a change of type during the year can have significant tax consequences canada.ca.

Schedule 19 reaches further than Schedule 50 for non residents: it applies if a non resident shareholder owned a voting share of any class at any time in the year, with no 10% floor, and nonvoting shares are left out canada.ca. A non resident with 4% of the voting common is on Schedule 19 but not on Schedule 50.