FOR INCORPORATED PHYSICIANS & DENTISTS · ACROSS CANADA
Financial Advisor for Incorporated Doctors and Dentists
You spent years learning to care for patients, not to run a corporation's finances. Right now you probably have an accountant, a banker, and an insurance policy someone sold you years ago, but no one making sure it all adds up to one plan. That coordination is the job we do. Fee-for-service planning, based in Vancouver, for incorporated doctors and dentists across Canada.
A planning conversation, not a product pitch. See how our pricing works.
Does this sound like you?
Most of the incorporated doctors and dentists we work with come to us with some version of the same situation:
There is money building up inside your corporation, and no one has given you a clear plan for what to do with it.
You have a nagging sense your investments could be costing you at tax time, but it has never been explained in a way that stuck.
You pay yourself mostly in dividends because someone set it up that way, and no one has confirmed it is still the right call for you.
If a few of those landed, you are exactly who we work with.
THE CORE ISSUE
Why financial planning is different once you're incorporated
The day your practice income started running through a professional corporation, your financial life got more complicated, whether anyone told you or not. You now have decisions to make every year: how to pay yourself, what to do with the money you leave in the company, and how to invest it. Here is one that catches people off guard. Once the passive investment income inside your corporation passes $50,000 in a year, it starts to shrink the small business deduction the following year, and that quietly raises the tax rate on your practice income. So how you invest retained earnings is not only an investment question. It is a tax question and a structure question at the same time, and the three usually sit with three different people. None of these decisions is dramatic on its own. But you make them year after year, and with no one connecting them, they compound into one of the more consequential parts of your financial life. That is the part your accountant usually isn’t hired to plan. It is the part we do.
A QUESTION WE HEAR A LOT
Your accountant files your taxes. Who is planning the next 30 years?
A good accountant keeps you compliant and files an accurate return. That work is essential, and it is backward-looking by design: it reports what already happened. Financial planning is the forward-looking half. It is deciding how to pay yourself, what to do with retained earnings, how to invest inside the corporation, when a holding company or trust earns its keep, and how all of it connects to your personal goals and eventual exit. We do not replace your accountant. We act as the coordinator, your financial quarterback, so your accountant, your lawyer, and your investment strategy are working from one plan instead of in separate silos.
For Physicians
What we plan for incorporated physicians
01
For most physicians, the corporation is the retirement plan
Most physicians have no practice to sell at the end. The investments inside your corporation, plus your personal savings, are the retirement plan. That makes the balance building up in there more important than it looks, and it changes the real question from "when do I retire" to "when can I drop a clinic day, or stop taking call, without second-guessing the math." Left in cash or GICs, that money can quietly fall behind inflation, and past a point it can cost you at tax time. We help you decide how to invest it and when to draw it, so it is actually working toward the life you want.
02
How you pay yourself
Many physicians pay themselves mostly in dividends because that is how it was set up. It is worth revisiting, because the choice quietly touches more than your tax bill. Salary creates RRSP room and builds CPP; dividends do not. And here is the one that gets missed because it sits between two advisors: disability benefits are often based on your salary, so a dividends-only setup can shrink the coverage protecting your single biggest asset, your ability to practise. There is no universal right answer, and anyone who claims one is guessing. We look at the mix against your real goals so it is a decision you made on purpose.
03
Protecting your income and your practice
Your ability to practise is your most valuable asset, and most doctors are less protected than they assume. If an illness or injury kept you from working, would your income and your practice hold up? We check whether your current coverage actually matches what is at stake, and how it fits with how you pay yourself, instead of treating insurance as one more thing to buy.
04
Stepping away and winding things down
One day you will slow down or leave practice, and the corporation you built has to be unwound with some care. The order you take money out in makes a real difference to how much you keep. We plan those years well ahead, working alongside your accountant, so the finish is as organized as the rest of your career.
For Dentists
What we plan for incorporated dentists
01
Investing what your corporation has built up
Many dentists have built a sizeable investment balance inside their corporation over the years. Investing that money is not the same as investing in an RRSP or TFSA. The same $50,000 passive-income rule applies, with an added tension: a large investment pile inside the practice corporation can complicate keeping it clean for a future sale. We build a strategy for your corporate savings aimed at what you actually keep after tax, and we do it with an eye on the exit, not just this year's return.
02
Your exit is a transaction, not a date
Whether it is a sale to an associate, a partner buy-in, or one of those unsolicited offers from a corporate buyer sitting in your inbox, the back half of your plan has a transaction in the middle of it. How the sale is structured is a tax decision as much as a deal decision: on qualifying shares, the lifetime capital gains exemption can shelter more than $1.25 million of the gain, but a large investment portfolio inside the corporation can put that qualification at risk. And a headline offer number is never the real number. What it is worth after tax, after any work-back period, and after what it does to the rest of your plan is a planning question before it is a brokerage question. These decisions need years of runway, not months. We work with your accountant and lawyer to get the structure right, and to decide what the proceeds should actually fund next.
03
Bringing in an associate or partner
Taking on an associate or partner raises real questions: what the practice is worth, how a buy-in or buyout works, and what the agreement between you should say. We handle the financial-planning side and work alongside your lawyer so the transition is fair and clear for everyone involved.
04
Whether a holding company is worth it
Dentists with money accumulating in the practice often wonder whether they should set up a holding company. Sometimes it genuinely helps. Sometimes it just adds cost and paperwork, and it depends on your province's rules for dental corporations. We give you a straight answer for your situation, and show how it would fit with everything else instead of looking at it in isolation.
WHY OCEAN 6
Fee-for-service. Independent. Coordinated.
1
Fee-for-service
You should know how we are paid before you book anything, so here it is plainly. Our financial planning is fee-for-service: a transparent, flat fee for the plan itself, stated before any work begins, with no commission buried inside it and no obligation to buy anything to get it. Our pricing is published on this site, not revealed at the end of a pitch.
Full transparency on the rest: Ocean 6 is also licensed to provide insurance through Ocean 6 Insurance Solutions Inc., and investments through Ocean 6 Investment Solutions Inc., a mutual fund dealer. If you choose to implement your plan through us, Ocean 6 is paid a commission on those products. You are never required to buy them to get your plan, and if it comes up we will tell you plainly. The decision is always yours.
2
Independent
We are an independent Vancouver firm. The plan is built around you and your goals, not around a set list of products.
3
Coordinated
We bring your accountant, lawyer, and investments into one strategy, and keep everyone aligned as your life changes. We coordinate with the professionals you already have. We do not direct them, and we do not ask you to leave them.
We work with incorporated physicians and dentists everywhere in Canada except Quebec, in person in Vancouver or virtually wherever you practise.
HOW WE WORK
How we work with doctors and dentists across Canada
1
Book a Discovery Call
A 45-minute conversation about your corporation, your goals, and the decisions you have been putting off. Nothing is sold on this call, and we will tell you honestly if we are not the right fit.
2
We map your situation
A clear picture of your corporation, your taxes, your investments, and where the gaps and opportunities are.
3
You get one plan
We work with your accountant and lawyer to put it in place, and keep it current as things change.
In person in Vancouver, or virtually anywhere you practise in Canada (except Quebec).
Common Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How is financial planning different when I have a Medical or Dental Professional Corporation?
Once your income runs through a professional corporation, you have a set of yearly decisions most people don't: how to pay yourself, what to do with the money you leave in the company, and how to invest it. The real value is in planning those decisions over your whole career, not just filing a return each year. And because the rules behind them are federal, our approach works the same wherever you practise in Canada.
My accountant already handles my taxes. Why would I need a financial planner?
Your accountant keeps you compliant and files an accurate, backward-looking return. Planning is the forward-looking side: how you pay yourself, what to do with retained earnings, and how it all connects to your goals and eventual exit. We coordinate with your accountant rather than replace them.
I mostly pay myself in dividends. Is that a problem?
Not necessarily, but it is worth a second look. Salary creates RRSP room and builds CPP; dividends do not. And disability benefits are often based on salary, so a dividends-only setup can quietly reduce the coverage protecting your ability to practise. A mix that was right a few years ago may not be right now. We check it against your real goals so it stays a deliberate choice.
What happens when my corporation's passive income goes over $50,000?
Once your corporation's passive investment income passes $50,000 in a year, it begins to reduce the small business deduction the corporation can claim the following year. The $500,000 limit drops by $5 for every $1 of passive income above $50,000, and reaches zero at $150,000. This rule is in force in 2026. It is a key reason investing your retained earnings well is a tax-planning question, not just an investment one.
When does a holding company make sense for a doctor or dentist?
Sometimes a holding company genuinely helps, and sometimes it just adds cost and complexity. It depends on your situation. We give you a straight answer before you spend money setting one up.
Do you work with residents, associates, and early-career physicians and dentists?
Yes. The decisions you make early, about incorporating, your first investments, insurance, and debt, shape everything that follows, and getting them right early is often worth more than fixing them later. We work with doctors and dentists at every stage.
Do you work with doctors and dentists outside British Columbia?
Yes. Ocean 6 is based in Vancouver and works with incorporated physicians and dentists across Canada, everywhere except Quebec, in person or virtually. The tax rules that shape your plan are federal, so our approach applies wherever you practise.
Not in healthcare? Many of the same strategies apply to other incorporated professionals. See how we work with incorporated professionals across all disciplines.
250
+
Canadian families & business owners served
40
+
Years of planning experience
8
Pillars of wealth actively coordinated
CFP®
All lead advisors are Certified Financial Planners
READY TO TALK?
Book a Discovery Call
A 45-minute call about your professional corporation, your goals, and the decisions you have been meaning to get to. Expect questions, straight answers about how we work and what it costs, and zero products. One honest note on fit: if you are looking for someone to pick stocks or chase the market, we are not the right firm. If you want your full financial picture coordinated into one plan, book the call.