Estate planning for digital businesses in Canada. What happens when a founder passes away

For many business owners, succession planning feels like a retirement project. In practice, it is a business continuity plan, a family protection plan, and a tax plan all at once. That matters now, not later. The federal government says more than 17% of Canadian SME owners planned to exit within the next five years, which means a meaningful share of privately held businesses are already in a transition window. In a region built on owner-led companies, delaying the conversatio