FOR INCORPORATED PHYSICIANS & DENTISTS · ACROSS CANADA
Financial Advisor for Incorporated Doctors and Dentists
Fee-for-service financial planning built around your Medical or Dental Professional Corporation. We bring your corporation, your tax, and your personal wealth into one plan, then handle the coordination for you, keeping your accountant, lawyer, and investments working from the same strategy. Based in Vancouver, serving incorporated physicians and dentists across Canada.
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:
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
When your practice income runs through a Medical or Dental Professional Corporation, you are operating a Canadian-controlled private corporation (CCPC), and a different set of tax rules applies. The most important ones are federal, so they work the same way whether you practise in Vancouver, Calgary, or Halifax: the small business deduction on your first $500,000 of active income, the passive-income rule that can claw that deduction back, and the fact that money invested inside the corporation is taxed differently than money in your own hands. What changes from province to province is the exact tax rate, not the rules themselves. Getting these decisions right over a full career is worth far more than any single year's tax return, and it is the part your accountant usually isn't engaged to plan. That is the gap we fill.
For Physicians
What we plan for incorporated physicians
01
Passive income and protecting your small business deduction
Your Medical Professional Corporation pays the low small business tax rate on the first $500,000 of active professional income, as long as its passive investment income stays under $50,000 a year. Past that point the deduction is clawed back, and it disappears entirely once passive income reaches $150,000. The cost of losing it is real. For example, a BC physician at the full limit pays up to roughly $80,000 more in corporate tax a year, and the exact figure depends on your province. We manage this through the investment mix inside the corporation, holding company structures, and corporate-owned life insurance where it fits.
02
Salary, dividends, and RRSP room
Many physicians pay themselves mostly in dividends, which is often sensible, but dividends create no RRSP contribution room. That room comes from salary. Over a career, a dividend-only approach can mean hundreds of thousands of dollars in tax-sheltered growth you never used. We model the salary-versus-dividend mix against your RRSP room, CPP, personal tax bracket, and how much you are leaving inside the corporation, so the split is a deliberate decision rather than a default.
03
Protecting your income and your practice
Your ability to practise is your largest asset. A disability does not just stop your income, it can leave a profitable practice carrying overhead with no one running it. We review whether your disability and overhead coverage actually match what is at stake, and coordinate it with the rest of your plan instead of treating insurance as a separate sale.
04
Winding down the corporation
When you retire or leave practice, the corporation has to be unwound, and the order in which you take money out matters. RRSP and RRIF withdrawals, dividends, tax-free capital dividends from the Capital Dividend Account (CDA), and life insurance proceeds each carry their own tax treatment, and getting the sequence wrong can cost tens of thousands. We plan the wind-down years ahead, working alongside your accountant.
For Dentists
What we plan for incorporated dentists
01
Investing what your corporation accumulates
A Dental Professional Corporation often holds a large investment balance built up over a career. Investing inside a corporation is not the same as investing in an RRSP or TFSA: passive income is taxed at a high rate up front, some of it refundable when you pay dividends out, and the right mix looks different as a result. We build an investment approach for your corporate account aimed at after-tax return, using capital-gains-focused investments, corporate-class structures, and corporate-owned life insurance where it is appropriate.
02
Selling or transitioning your practice
A dental practice sale is one of the more complex small-business transactions in Canada. The value sits partly in goodwill, partly in equipment, and partly in the patient base, and whether the sale can use the Lifetime Capital Gains Exemption (LCGE) depends on structuring it as a qualifying sale of shares rather than assets. We work with your accountant and lawyer on the share-versus-asset decision, LCGE planning, and how to invest the proceeds afterward.
03
Bringing in an associate or partner
Adding an associate or partner introduces share valuation, buyout mechanics, and shareholder agreements. We advise on the financial-planning side and work alongside your corporate lawyer so the transition is structured sensibly for both parties.
04
Whether a holding company makes sense
Dentists with significant retained earnings often look at a holding company to receive dividends from the practice corporation on a tax-deferred basis and hold investments in a more protected structure. We assess whether a holdco actually adds value in your case, and how it fits with your investment approach, insurance, and estate plan.
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.
WHY OCEAN 6
Fee-for-service. Independent. Coordinated.
1
Fee-for-service
Our financial planning is fee-for-service. You pay a transparent fee for the plan itself, not a commission buried inside a product. That keeps the planning advice focused on your situation.
2
Independent
We are an independent Vancouver firm, not a bank and not a product manufacturer, so the plan is built around you rather than around a shelf of products.
3
Coordinated
We bring your accountant, lawyer, and investments into one strategy, and keep them aligned as your situation changes.
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
45 minutes on your corporation, your retained earnings, and the decisions you have been putting off. No pitch.
2
We map your situation
A clear picture of your corporation, tax, investments, and goals, and where the gaps and opportunities are.
3
You get one coordinated 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?
A professional corporation is a Canadian-controlled private corporation, so a separate set of federal tax rules applies: the small business deduction on your first $500,000 of active income, the passive-income rule that can claw it back, and different tax treatment for money invested inside the corporation. Planning around those rules over a career, rather than only filing each year, is where most of the value is. The rules are federal, so they apply in every province. Only the exact tax rate changes.
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, how to invest inside the corporation, and how it all connects to your personal 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 checking. Dividends create no RRSP contribution room, salary does, so a dividend-only approach can quietly cost you years of tax-sheltered growth. We model the salary-versus-dividend mix against your RRSP room, CPP, tax bracket, and corporate strategy so it is a deliberate choice.
When does a holding company make sense for a doctor or dentist?
A holdco can let your practice corporation pay dividends up on a tax-deferred basis and hold investments in a more protected structure, but it adds cost and complexity and is not right for everyone. We assess whether it adds real value in your situation before recommending it.
Do you work with residents, associates, and early-career physicians and dentists?
Yes. Early decisions about incorporating, first investments, insurance, and debt shape everything that follows, and getting them right early is often worth more than optimizing later. We work with professionals 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 corporate tax rules that drive 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.
READY TO TALK?
Book a Discovery Call
45 minutes, focused on your professional corporation, your retained earnings, and the financial decisions you have been putting off. No pitch.