Article of Incorporation - Individual

You can and the actual process and cost of incorporating is fairly easy and low. I'd keep in mind that there are things that must be done regularly to maintain the active status of your corporation. Like the annual filing, HST/GST filings, T2 income tax filing, etc. These can be time consuming, daunting, and annoying.

Thanks @ DiceMan.
I completed the Incorporation, but now see that I have to register with each province where I plan to carry out business. Does that mean I now have to file for a business name etc?
Then that will allow me to request the HST number? Makes sense, but have to ask....

IslandTourGuide wrote: ↑ Thanks @ DiceMan.
I completed the Incorporation, but now see that I have to register with each province where I plan to carry out business. Does that mean I now have to file for a business name etc?
Then that will allow me to request the HST number? Makes sense, but have to ask....

Yes, I believe that's true. I did mine as a federal corporation and then registered provincially in Ontario where I operate. Then, when you get your corporation number (different from corp's name), you can set up your CRA accounts. These will typically be HST (collected from client), payroll (source deductions from your draw from the business, assuming you pay yourself as an employee; note you'll also have to issue yourself T4's and do a separate personal income tax, though I'm by far an expert and an accountant can advise you better), and income tax accounts (T2 filing).

I don't know if you have to have a name rather than just operating as a numbered corp, but I did name my company after doing that name search through NUANS. It just looks nicer and more professional to me.

IslandTourGuide wrote: ↑ Thanks @ DiceMan.
I completed the Incorporation, but now see that I have to register with each province where I plan to carry out business. Does that mean I now have to file for a business name etc?

Sorry, but it means that you should have spoken to a qualified professional and seek advice before you went ahead.
You can incorporate federally or provincially, you should incorporate federally if you plan to carry out business across the Canada, If you only carry out the business in one province, which is the case for most independent contractors who work for one company that doesn't want to deal with employees, and in many cases should. If you incorporate in Ontario you are assigned business number automatically, cra will send it to you within couple of weeks of incorporation, then you simply need to get hst and payroll account number if need be. Federal corps also need to do one additional annual filing.
You will also need to read up on PSB, it will affect your filings.