Bulk Sales Repeal Headlines Ontario's Burden Reduction Bill

Your Ontario bulk sales headaches may soon be a thing of the past. Bill 218, the Burden Reduction Act, 2016, which would repeal the 99 year old Bulk Sales Act ("BSA"), passed first reading in the Ontario legislature on June 8, 2016. While from an M&A perspective the proposed repeal of the BSA is the big news in Bill 218, the Bill contains a wide range of additional provisions aimed at modernizing laws affecting Ontario businesses. Among these are amendments to the province's Business Corporations Act and Personal Property Security Act as well as enabling legislation that is required for the implementation of certain international commercial law conventions, of which some are already in force in Canada and others may come into force in the future.