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Practice Profile

Alexander Holburn Beaudin & Lang LLP's Franchise Practice assists American, Canadian and international clients in all facets of Canadian franchise law.  We adopt an interdisciplinary approach, frequently working with the lawyers from our business, employment & labour, immigration, litigation and real estate practice groups in order to address the wide-ranging needs of our clients.

We act primarily for franchisors and master franchisees.  Our services span the spectrum from initial structuring of new or expanding franchise systems, to ongoing operational advice and litigation and dispute resolution and advocacy where required.  More specifically, we advise and represent our franchise clients in the following areas:

• Franchise agreements
• Area development agreements
• Disclosure documentation
• Regulatory compliance
• Domain name registrations and disputes
• Franchise disputes, and the enforcement and termination of agreements
• Intellectual property issues including copyrights, trademarks and patents
• Operations manuals
• Purchase and sale of individual franchises
• Real estate leasing & sub-leasing arrangements
• Technology & e-commerce

Is your business franchisable?  To learn more about franchising and some of the questions to ask when considering a franchise, please click here.

Franchise Systems Entering Canada

Canada has the second-largest franchise industry worldwide, representing over Cdn $100 billion in annual sales.*   Franchisors seeking to expand in North America rightly look to  Canada as the next logical step beyond the U.S. domestic market.

For franchisors engaged in or considering international expansion, the Canadian market has many positive attributes.  The geographic proximity of Canada to the U.S. leads to a significant awareness of U.S. brands among consumers.  Canada has a highly skilled workforce, a modern and reliable shipping and telecommunications infrastructure, a positive foreign investment attitude and a stable and safe business climate.  It is not surprising then that franchising in Canada employs over 1.5 million people and on average a new franchise opens every 2 hours.*

While there are significant similarities between franchising in Canada and the U.S., important distinctions between the two markets remain.  Alexander Holburn's Franchise Law Practice Group is proficient in adapting American and international franchise systems for the Canadian market in order to bridge these differences.  We help our clients “Canadianize” their existing documentation to comply with local regulatory requirements and to align with Canadian market forces.

* Source: Canadian Business Franchise Magazine

Our lawyers are members of: 

• American Bar Association Forum on Franchising
• Canadian Franchise Association
• International Franchise Association

Recent Representative Matters  

• Assisted U.S. fitness franchise with the Canadianization of their franchise system including drafting franchise agreement and disclosure documentation.
• Assisted start-up franchisor in the construction industry design their franchise system including drafting their franchise agreement. 
• Obtained injunction on behalf of financial services industry franchisor against former franchisee, preventing the former franchisee from engaging in a similar business in the area for a 3-year period.
• Obtained a consent judgment restraining a former franchisee from offering similar food and beverage products and services in the area for 2 years.
• Updated franchise disclosure documents for major Canadian financial franchisor.
• Developed agreement for Canadian master franchisor for a U.S. travel industry franchisor.