British Columbia may be one step closer towards franchise legislation of the type already in effect in the ‘disclosure provinces’ of Alberta, Ontario, Manitoba, New Brunswick and PEI.
The B.C. Ministry of Justice is seeking stakeholder and public comment on a proposed B.C. Franchises Act. The proposed legislation is based on the Uniform Franchises Act, developed by the Uniform Law Conference of Canada, and the recommendations of the British Columbia Law Institute in its “Report on a Franchise Act for British Columbia,” which includes a draft “Franchises Act” for B.C.
To be clear, no legislation has been introduced into the B.C. legislature. The Civil Policy and Legislation Office of the Ministry of Justice simply wants further input from franchisors, franchisees and other stakeholders in the franchise industry as to why B.C. should or shouldn’t have the kind of legal protections that are available to franchisees in five disclosure provinces, and throughout the United States.