Articles - Focus on Franchising

Despite a franchisor's best efforts, litigation may be unavoidable in the operation of a franchised system. This article discusses best practices in managing litigation resultant from operating a franchised system.

Franchising owes much of its success to the nature of the relationship between franchisor and franchisee. The essence of that relationship is that the franchisor and the franchisee are independent contractors, with separate and distinct obligations, premised on the franchisee having the opportunity to operate, and profit from, its own independent business.

An “earnings claim” is any information given by or on behalf of a franchisor to a prospective franchisee from which a specific level or range of actual or potential sales, costs, income or profit of franchisor-owned or franchised outlets may be readily ascertained. Every North American jurisdiction that regulates franchise sales also regulates the use of earnings claims, although some of them use different terms for "earnings claims".

Franchise pundits will tell you that 50 cents of every dollar spent in a retail outlet is spent at a franchised business.

Canada’s new Anti-Spam Legislation will have a significant effect on the electronic marketing activities of Canadian businesses.

In business, evolution and adaptability are absolute prerequisites to success. Shifting consumer preferences, aggressive competitors, and new technologies require that businesses improve and adapt their products and services, as well as their supply chains and internal operations...

The importance of location selection and the structure of the related lease cannot be underestimated when dealing with most franchising systems in Canada.

One unanimous criticism of Ontario’s Arthur Wishart Act (Franchise Disclosure), 2000 relates to the obsolete methods prescribed for delivery of a disclosure document to a prospective franchisee.

Should franchisees be able to get something for nothing? One would think not but in the recent decision in 2189205 Ontario Inc. et al. v. Springdale Pizza Depot Ltd. et al., 2013 ONSC 1232, 2013 CarswellOnt 2630 (Springdale Pizza)...

Class Members Can Openly Debate Opting Out Without Invalidating Opt Out Period