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Franchise Class Actions: What to Expect in Canada

By By Michael Webster
October 30, 2008

Although the geographic landscape in southern Ontario is similar to much of the northeastern United States, there are subtle traps for the franchisor who ventures northward expecting the franchise laws to be substantially the same. Southern Ontario contains the bulk of economic activity in Canada, and it has a franchise disclosure law based upon the U.S. Federal Trade Commission Franchise Rule. However, there are significant differences in how Canadian law in general will affect franchisors.

One of the differences that franchisors will encounter comes in the area of pure economic loss in the context of a franchise class action, and it is an area in which careful planning may mitigate the problem. While there are more legal differences than economic loss, including a statutory duty of good faith, material disclosure of all information, a statutory right to supply, arbitration, lower thresholds for class actions, and “loser pay” cost consequences, the most dramatic differences are with respect to the treatment of a pure economic loss in the context of the negligent performance of a contract.

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