Effective this October 1, Manitoba will have a new franchise law that codifies statutory enshrinement of franchisee rights. The province follows Alberta, New Brunswick, Ontario and Prince Edward Island, which have similar legislation.
This means franchisors in Manitoba will be required to provide prospective franchisees with franchise disclosure documents (FDDs). Overall, the disclosure requirements for Manitoba are fairly consistent with the other provinces, as well, so national franchisors should be able to work with their lawyers to smoothly augment existing FDDs with the changes needed for Manitoba, according to Chad Finkelstein, a franchise lawyer at Dale & Lessmann LLP in Toronto.
Electronic delivery of an FDD is permitted in Manitoba, so franchisees will not have to rely on registered mail or personal delivery as are specified elsewhere. This should facilitate the efficient delivery of FDDs from franchisors located in other provinces or outside of Canada entirely.
Another technical requirement that is unique to Manitoba is that FDDs need not be delivered "as one document at one time." In other provinces, franchisors must ensure that the franchise disclosure document is delivered as one fully assembled package all at the same time, and not in installments.
Under the Manitoba franchise law, no such requirement exists so long as each document is identified as "part of" the disclosure document, and "a certificate verifying the accuracy and completeness of the FDD is included with the last document delivered to the franchisee," Finkelstein explained.
– Compiled by Kevan O'Brien
from Western Investor June 2012
