New BC Franchises Act Implements BCLI Recommendations
October 20, 2015
BY Greg Blue
Today the B.C. Legislative Assembly passed the Franchises Act (Bill 38), broadly supported on both Government and Opposition sides. When brought into force, the Franchises Act will implement nearly all of the recommendations in the 2014 Report on a Franchise Act for British Columbia by the British Columbia Law Institute (BCLI).
In the 2014 report, BCLI recommended that British Columbia join Alberta, Ontario, Manitoba, New Brunswick, and P.E.I. in enacting franchise legislation modelled on the Uniform Franchises Act developed by the Uniform Law Conference of Canada. The report proposed some updates to the uniform Act, such as allowing franchisors to deliver pre-sale disclosure documents to prospective franchisees electronically. The report followed a consultation paper that BCLI published in 2013 to obtain stakeholder input.
“We are extremely pleased that the great majority of our recommendations are reflected in the new BC Franchises Act,” said Kathleen Cunningham, Executive Director of BCLI. “This legislation is very supportive of small and medium-sized business in B.C., and benefits franchisors and franchisees alike by contributing to the establishment of consistent standards of pre-contractual disclosure and other aspects of franchising practice.”
BCLI’s study was carried out at the invitation of the Ministry of Justice and Attorney General, and involved consultations with stakeholders and an advisory group of leading B.C. franchise law practitioners.
BCLI is an independent, not-for-profit law reform agency that strives to improve and modernize the law.
First reading version of Bill 38, the Franchises Act
BCLI’s Report on a Franchise Act for British Columbia
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Contact: Greg Blue, Q.C.
Senior Staff Lawyer
(604) 827-5337
[email protected]
