The Province of Ontario has amended the regulation under the Arthur Wishart Act (Franchise Disclosure), 2000, S.O. 2000, c.3 to permit a disclosure document to be delivered to a prospective franchisee electronically or by courier. The new regulation goes into effect on July 1, 2016.
Prior to this change, a disclosure document could only be delivered personally or by registered mail.
The new section of the regulation reads:
Part IV
DELIVERY OF DOCUMENTS
12. (1) For the purposes of subsection 5 (2) of the Act, a franchisor may deliver a disclosure document to a prospective franchisee by electronic transmission if,
(i) the file name, and
(ii) if the file name is not sufficiently descriptive of the subject matter dealt with in the file, a statement of that subject matter; and
(d) the franchisor receives a written acknowledgment of receipt from the prospective franchisee.
(2) A franchisor may deliver a disclosure document to a prospective franchisee by courier if the franchisor pays the costs of the delivery.
The regulation also added a section regarding the delivery of a Notice of Rescission by a franchisee. The regulation now permits delivery of a Notice of Rescission by courier. Prior to this change, a Notice of Rescission could only be delivered personally, by registered mail or by fax at the franchisor’s address for service or to any other person designated for that purpose in the franchise agreement.
The new section of the regulation reads:
The entire disclosure regulation, as amended, are available on the Government of Ontario’s website.
