Number 20 – July 21, 2010
FRANCHISING
THE TREND CONTINUES - FRANCHISE LEGISLATION
As was expected, after Alberta, Ontario and Prince Edward Island, now Manitoba and New Brunswick are following the trend in Canada by preparing to adopt franchise legislation.
NEW BRUNSWICK REGULATIONS
After adopting the Franchises Act in 2007, New Brunswick is now putting the final touches on the franchise regulations which will come into force on February 1, 2011. The Franchises Act will come into full force at the same time as the regulations.
For franchisors that already have a Disclosure Document, the adoption of the regulations will signal that a new section will need to be added to it to reflect the differences between the New Brunswick legislation and current franchise legislation in other provinces.
MANITOBA FRANCHISES ACT
At the same time, Manitoba is moving forward with its own Franchises Act. The franchise regulations should follow shortly and both are expected to come into force by the end of 2011.
This will leave only five (5) provinces without specific franchise legislation. We expect 3 or 4 of them to follow suit over the next 2-3 years. With certain articles that address the franchisor-franchisee relationship in the Civil Code of Quebec and much evolved case law, the province of Quebec is not expected to adopt franchise legislation in the short term.
Claude J. Pellan, Attorney
Franchise Law
