Franchising In Canada

Franchising is not as heavily regulated in Canada as it is in a number of other jurisdictions, including the United States.  In Canada, franchising is a purely provincial matter and there is no federal franchise legislation applicable across the country.  Currently, only six provinces have franchise legislation in effect: Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick.  While there are slight differences in the legislation and regulatory requirements of each province, they are all derived from the U.S. model of mandated disclosure by a franchisor to prospective franchisees, coupled with a duty of good faith and fair dealing owed by each party to the other, and a right of franchisees to associate freely among themselves.