How To Benefit From Benefit Companies

Effective June 30, 2020, the Government of British Columbia brought into force amendments under the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia) (BCBCA), introducing a new type of business structure: the benefit company. With these legislative changes, new and pre-existing companies incorporated under the BCBCA can elect to be considered a benefit company.

WHAT IS A BENEFIT COMPANY?

A benefit company is a type of corporation that allows businesses to operate with a view to profit, while simultaneously promoting a public benefit in a responsible and sustainable way. Benefit companies may operate with the goal of achieving a wide range of public benefits, from environmental to charitable, so long as that benefit accrues to the environment, or to specified classes of persons other than the company's shareholders in their capacity as shareholders.