"Clear And Concise" Is A Legal Standard, Not A Drafting Preference

Every Canadian franchise disclosure statute contains a sentence that many franchisors tend to read as housekeeping, but one which I think about a lot.

In Ontario, it is subsection 5(6) of the Arthur Wishart Act (Franchise Disclosure), 2000 which states that all information in a disclosure document and in a statement of material change must be set out “accurately, clearly and concisely”. British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island each impose the same requirement, and as of June 30, 2026, so too does Saskatchewan.

Of course, one’s disclosure document must be accurate, but often, not enough thought is given to the other two adjectives, “clear and concise”. Those words are not a preamble, nor are they a statement of principle. They are an operative requirement.