This is one of the areas I would advise speaking with a professional.
Done correctly a corp can unlock all sorts of great tax and estate planning opportunities- not to mention limit some liability. Done wrong you will make a lawyer and an accountant a great deal of money.
The complexity comes in the share structure and ensuring you are in compliance with both with the provincial legislation as well as capable of making full use of the provisions of the Income Tax Act.
The issues often arise when you decide to sell your shares or have the corp. borrow funds. Many a bank, and all purchasers represented by a competent lawyer, will want a legal opinion as to the structure, status and authority of the corp and its directors. If you have done this yourself you may have trouble convincing a lawyer to give that opinion. Although many will do it for the right price after reviewing your work in detail and fixing any issues they see (this is never cheap). So, I suppose you can pay it up front or at the end.
A good lawyer will set up your share rights with classes of shares that allow you to roll your proprietorship assets into the corp in a tax efficient manner. I have never seen someone doing this themselves get it right.
The way I see it, being completely biased on the matter, if you have a $300 enterprise - save the $300 and do it yourself. Although, when you want to complete a transaction or tax/estate planning expect to pay much, much more. If you bring your minute book into a lawyer or accountant in a box - expect to pay exponentially more for services.
As for keeping the minute book at home - many do, but review what the act requires of a registered and records office. If you feel like this is something you want and can do (ie the one I don't like is the public disclosure) absolutely save the $100.00 most firms will charge a year ($500 is overkill in my humble opinion- but I live in a low overhead environment). Just be careful of the filing requirements - lawyers make a great deal doing "restitution" transactions. Basically, if you don't file your company can get struck and there is a process to getting it back in good standing. The real money is in the escheats applications though - if it has been struck for a period of time, its assets belong to the government.
tldr: if you really want to save some time and money - speak to a professional to begin with about if you even need to incorporate and how you might benefit from it. There are an infinite number of structures and possibilities. A good adviser can make your life easier and save you way more than you pay them.