The disclosure document is the centrepiece of franchise law in
Canada. In those provinces which have franchise legislation,
franchisors are required to provide prospective franchisees with a
sufficient amount of background on the system via the disclosure
document so that those prospects can make informed investment
decisions about whether they want to become a franchisee or
not.
One of the tenets of franchise law is that, while containing all
the requisite pieces of information which the legislation requires,
disclosure documents must also be "clear and
concise". Conciseness is generally anathema to lawyers,
and those who practice in franchising are no exception. As a
result, it is not uncommon to come across disclosure documents that
are anywhere from 100 - 400 pages long, depending on the number of
attachments to the main document.
