New Brunswick Considers Franchise Legislation

On December 7, 2005, the Minister of Justice for the Province of New Brunswick introduced Bill 6, known as the Franchises Act. At this time, Bill 6 has only received first reading and a date for actual enactment of the proposed legislation is unknown.

New Brunswick’s proposed Franchises Act is very similar to franchise legislation currently in force in the provinces of Alberta and Ontario. By way of summary, New Brunswick’s proposed Franchises Act contains the following key provisions:

1. a franchisor is required to provide a prospective franchisee in New Brunswick with a disclosure document not less than 14 days before the signing of a franchise agreement or the payment of any money by the prospective franchisee to the franchisor. The disclosure document must disclose all material facts, including the franchisor’s financial statements, copies of all proposed agreements to be signed by the franchisee and other information that will be required by a regulation that has not yet been