The maintenance and preservation of corporate documentation required by the applicable incorporation law, including minutes and registers, is mandatory for all corporations. However, the law does not necessarily require the use of a binder specifically labeled "minutes book".
A company incorporated under the Quebec Business Corporations Act or the Canada Business Corporations Act must keep and retain, in any prescribed place and for the required time, the books, records, minutes and other corporate documents required by law.
In practice, these documents are generally compiled in what is called the minutes book or corporate book of the company. This may include, in particular, the articles of incorporation, the certificate of incorporation, the company's bylaws, resolutions and minutes, as well as the various required registers.
This obligation also applies to companies with a single shareholder or director. Operating a business alone does not exempt you from maintaining and retaining the required corporate documentation.
An incomplete book or corporate documentation that has not been kept up to date can cause difficulties when it becomes necessary to demonstrate the company's shareholding, the powers of its directors, or the decisions made during its existence. Updating, regularizing, or, depending on the circumstances, ratifying certain decisions already made may then be required.
In summary , it is not necessarily the physical "minutes book" that is mandatory, but rather the maintenance and preservation of corporate documents and records required by law. Grouping them in a minutes book allows for the organized storage of this documentation and facilitates its regular updating.