Welcome from the Chair

I am honoured to serve as the Chair for the Ontario Bar Association’s Franchise Law Section for the 2020/2021 term. I am enjoying working with our talented executive featuring Vice-Chair Adam Ship, Secretary Melissa Won, CPD Liaisons Christine Jackson and Mitch Koczerginski, Public Affairs Liaison Clark Harrop, Technology Liaison Rory McGovern and Newsletter Editor Stephanie Sugar. The 2020/2021 term is shaping up to be an interesting year as we continue to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, new issues that continue to arise and strive to stay in touch in an era of social distancing.

Our 19^th Annual Franchise Law Conference (Franchising 2020: Franchising During Turbulent Times) will  be held virtually this year on Monday, November 30^th. This event has consistently been the premier legal franchising conference in Canada and this year will not be any different. This year’s conference will feature the annual legal and legislative update and a plenary session on Tackling the Grey Disclosure Issues. The conference also feature workshops on the following topics: (1) Beyond Rescission: Key Litigation Issues in Franchise Relationships; (2) The Impact of Private Equity on the Franchise Industry; (3) Top 10 Things to Know when Franchising in Quebec; (4) Hot Competition Law Issues in Franchising: No Poaching Provisions and Dual Distribution Models; (5) Whose Obligation Is It? Modern Privacy and Data Issues in Franchising; and (6) Franchising 101 – Disclosure Basics. The conference will also include nine interesting roundtable topics. This is truly an event not to be missed and we encourage you to REGISTER HERE. To view the full program agenda, please click here.

The Franchise Law Section is an active one and publishes quarterly newsletters, puts on a variety of programs and participates in advocacy initiatives (including having made representations to the government with respect to the recently enacted amendments to Ontario’s Arthur Wishart Act and the regulations thereunder). There are many opportunities to get involved and we encourage all members to participate in our section activities.  Working with colleagues on section projects can be very rewarding and help us to meet our section objectives.