Benefit Companies Arrive In B.C.

Introduction

This bulletin provides an update regarding a new form of company that will be available under the B.C. Business Corporations Act¹ (the BCA) effective June 30, 2020. The amendment to the BCA that creates this new form of company, the "benefit company", was put forward as a private member's bill with the stated goal of supporting "companies that choose to put the pursuit of social and environmental goals at the heart of their mission",² allowing them to embed these goals in their articles, and requiring them to remain publicly accountable to those goals.

A 'benefit company' or 'benefit corporation' is a form of business entity that has gained traction in the United States over the past decade and has started to be adopted in other jurisdictions around the world. Since Maryland became the first U.S. state to adopt the form in 2010, 35 U.S. states and the District of Columbia have all adopted benefit corporation legislation.³ British Columbia is the