The first step in creating or renegotiating a supply chain is understanding its component parts, and the roles each part plays: Producers, Manufacturers, Distributors, Retailers, and Consumers. These roles are
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Navigating National Accounts in Service Franchise Systems (Reports from the IFA Legal)
Approximately one third of all franchise systems in the U.S. are service franchises. Services franchises can offer business services (e.g. insurance, printing), services related to residential and commercial real estate
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Are You Doing the Right Due Diligence as You Grow Your System?
In our last post, we examined some of the types of risk that come with growth. In this post, we discuss some forms of diligence that may be used to
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Reducing Your Risk When Growing your System
Growth can be expensive, but it is always more expensive when the expansion is taken without risk assessment. Whether domestic or foreign, many risks can be reduced or avoided by
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Will a GrubHub Restaurant Take Over a Neighborhood Near You?
Each year in Washington D.C., the IFA joins forces with the International Bar Association’s Franchising Committee (IBA) to hold the IBA/IFA Joint Conference immediately after the IFA Legal Symposium. This
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Sign Me Up! How To Waive the Notary Requirement for International Franchisors
International franchisors inbound into the U.S. face a complex set of business decisions and legal regulations. Even seemingly simple tasks–like properly executing a franchise registration application–can become a time-consuming and
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Worried about GDPR? We have an App for That
Fox Rothschild LLP has deployed a new mobile app to assist companies, including franchisors, as they rush to comply with the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) – a
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Canada’s Horrible Anti-Spam Law Almost Got Even More Horrible
As many Canadians, as well as foreign companies doing business in Canada, now know, the cornerstone of Canada’s Anti-Spam Law (CASL) is a general prohibition against sending any “commercial electronic
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Here’s What You Need to Know about British Columbia’s New Franchise Law
Contributed by Judy Rost and Ryan Howe*
On February 1, 2017, the Franchises Act S.B.C. 2015, c. 35 (the “Act”) came into force in the province of British Columbia, Canada.
What this means for franchising in British Columbia:
The most important implication for franchisors with operations in British Columbia (“BC”) will be the franchise disclosure requirements stipulated under section 5 of the Act, and as prescribed by the Franchises Regulation, B.C. Reg. 238/2016 (the “Regulation”). Much like the existing legislation in Ontario and Alberta, the Act requires that a franchisor provide a prospective franchisee with a disclosure document at least 14 days prior to the earlier of:
(a) the signing, by the prospective franchisee, of the franchise agreement or any other agreement relating to the franchise; and
(b) the payment, by or on behalf of the prospective franchisee to the franchisor or the franchisor’s associate, of any consideration relating to the franchise.
This 14-day “cooling off” period is identical to the requirements in Ontario under the Arthur Wishart Act (Franchise Disclosure), 2000, S.O. 2000, c. 3 and ensures that franchisees have adequate time to consider their investment in the franchise system with their legal and tax advisors without being pressured by overzealous franchisors.
An immediate benefit to franchisees in BC is that the cooling off period prevents franchisors from collecting any fees or non-refundable deposits or any other form of consideration relating to the franchise. Currently, deposits and other monetary expressions of interest are common in BC, which places additional pressure on a prospective franchisee to sign the franchise agreement. The legislation will stop this practice and provide prospective franchisees in BC with some breathing room during their deliberations.
Notwithstanding the additional costs for franchisors which will be incurred by virtue of the preparation of disclosure documents for BC franchisees, for those franchisors who are already operating in the other disclosure jurisdictions, “wrap around” language in the current disclosure document should be relatively easy to implement, given the similarities between the Act and franchise legislation in the other Canadian disclosure jurisdictions.
Unfortunately, those franchisors who are currently operating solely in BC or in other jurisdictions that do not require disclosure, will have to incur the not insignificant cost of preparing a disclosure document which meets the requirements of the Act.
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Diversity Immigrant Visa Program Opens Oct. 4th
The State Department announced that it will begin accepting applications for the FY 2018 Diversity Immigrant Visa Program—commonly called the diversity visa (DV) lottery—beginning Tuesday, October 4, 2016. Applicants who
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