July 20, 2020

Your CFA Update on COVID-19

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ADVOCACY EFFORTS ON COVID-19

CFA plays a key role as Ontario moves forward with changes to the Arthur Wishart Act (Franchise Disclosure), 2000

Today, the Ontario government announced that it was moving forward with changes to the Arthur Wishart Act. The CFA worked closely with the Ministry of Government and Consumer Services, the Business Law Modernization and Burden Reduction Council and the Premier’s Office on these changes over the past year. We started by pushing government to move forward with the enabling regulations that had not been implemented since the passage of Bill 154. This advocacy led to a public consultation in the fall of 2019 and many follow up meetings, phone calls and briefings in the Winter and Spring of 2020.

Thanks to all the hard work of David Black, CFA’s Director of Government Relations, Darrell Jarvis (Fasken), Chair and Andraya Frith (Osler), Vice Chair of the CFA’s Legal and Legislative Affairs Committee, Larry Weinberg (Cassels), the CFA’s General Counsel, Peter Snell (Gowlings) and Clark Harrop (Dale Lessmann), a former member of the Board, who was appointed to the Business Law Modernization and Burden Reduction Council following the CFA’s advocacy day in March 2019. This group helped draft the CFA’s detailed submission to government and they also participated in numerous meetings, phone calls and brief sessions with the Ministry, Minister’s Office and Premier’s Office on the changes that were being considered.

The changes, which are effective September 1, 2020, implement un-proclaimed legislative amendments in the AWA will be brought into force. Regulatory amendments to the General Regulation (O. Reg. 581/00) under the AWA will also come into force on this same date, including regulatory amendments needed to enable the legislative amendments noted above.

These changes, once in force, are expected to reduce burden on the franchise sector. Bringing the remaining un-proclaimed legislative amendments in the AWA into force will, among other things:

• Clarify when certain exemptions from disclosure requirements under the AWA apply;
• Specify that franchisor disclosure obligations are not triggered by certain ancillary agreements, with certain exceptions; and
• Require statements of material change provided by a franchisor to include information prescribed by regulation.

The amendments to the General regulation will:

• Clarify the accounting standards that can be used for financial statements referred to in the regulation;
• Specify certain information to be included in a statement of material change provided to prospective franchisees;
• Specify the threshold for a deposit payment under an agreement for which a franchisor would be exempt from disclosure obligations in certain circumstances;
• Specify the thresholds for exemptions from disclosure requirements based on “total initial investment” and the manner for determining “total initial investment” for such exemptions; and
• Make housekeeping amendments to update phrases and terms used in the regulation to align with the legislative amendments.

You can find these changes reflected in the AWA here: https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/00a03.

GetintheLoop is helping CFA members on the road to recovery!

We are hoping that we can contribute to getting your brand back to driving significant revenue. To help on the road to recovery, we are offering CFA members to join the platform for no cost, with no. obligation, for 3 months. 

Have you paid your HST?

The HST deferral that was brought in back in March has ended and your HST payments are due.

As part of the government’s response to COVID-19 the CRA allowed businesses, including self-employed individuals, to defer until June 30, 2020 any GST/HST payment that became owing between March 27 and the end of May 2020.

Those deferred tax payments were due effective the end of June.

Most of the GTA to move to Stage 3 on Friday – Toronto, Peel and Windsor-Essex will remain at Stage 2

Most of the GTA will be allowed to move forward to Stage 3 of the province’s reopening plan at the end of this week. Durham, Halton, Hamilton, Niagara, Haldimand-Norfolk, Sarnia-Lambton and York regions will all be permitted to enter Stage 3 at 12:01 a.m. on Friday.

Toronto, Peel Region and Windsor-Essex Region will, however, remain in Stage 2 for at least another week. It should be noted that the holding back of Toronto, Peel and Windsor-Essex regions is in line with previous comments from Health Minister Christine Elliott, who has said that officials need about four weeks of data to decide whether it is safe to proceed to the next stage in any given region.

Toronto and Peel regions only entered Stage 2 on June 24, so there won’t be four weeks of data available until Wednesday. Windsor Essex, with the exception of Leamington and Kingsville, moved to Stage 2 on June 25 and there won’t be four weeks of data for that region until Thursday.

Stage 3 represents a much wider reopening of the province with indoor dining resuming at bars and restaurants and gyms, movie theatres and other entertainment venues allowed to reopen. The limit on indoor gatherings will also increase from 10 to 50 and outdoors crowds of up to 100 people will be able to gather.

Wearing a mask became mandatory in Quebec over the weekend

Effective now, masks are mandatory in indoor public spaces across the province. The new measure is kicking in as Quebec witnesses a slow but steady increase in the number of COVID-19 cases. The regulation applies to everyone aged 12 and up, although Legault said even children as young as two could be encouraged to wear a mask — either a certified medical face covering or a handcrafted one, as long as it covers the nose and mouth.

New Brunswick businesses told to collect 'minimum information necessary' for COVID-19 contact tracing

New Brunswick businesses and other organizations are being asked to collect only the minimum personal information necessary from patrons and visitors for COVID-19 contact-tracing purposes under new guidelines released Monday by Public Health. They should restrict the information collected to the first and last name of only one person per group and that person's phone number, or, if no phone number is available, an email address, the guidelines say.

If the collection form is a physical document, it must be protected from the public's view at all times, must never be left unattended and must be stored in a secure location. If it's electronic, it should be password-protected with a limited number of individuals who know the password.

The information should not be used for anything or shared with anyone other than when asked for by a medical officer of health or a Public Health inspector. And it should be destroyed after 21 days, after the risk of transmission of COVID-19 has passed, based on the estimated two-week incubation period.

The guidelines come after the province's privacy commissioner Charles Murray raised concerns about the lack of clarity and risk of a breach.

Under the province's state of emergency order, any for-profit, not-for-profit, charity or government entity that admits patrons to a venue at which seating is offered for the purposes of eating, drinking, socialization, celebration, ceremony or entertainment "must maintain a record of the names and contact information of all persons who attend." The same requirement applies to anyone who hosts, organizes or permits gatherings of more than 50 people, whether seated or standing.

Sherrard Kuzz LLP Legal Support Program
To help navigate the recovery of COVID-19, CFA members have the opportunity to contact Sherrard Kuzz LLP for one free phone-consultation, once per calendar year, to a maximum of 15 minutes. A member may use their 15 minutes to seek information about any employment, labour or human resources issue related to the User (subject to Sherrard Kuzz LLP successfully completing a conflict check to ensure it may advise on the matter).

HOW TO ACCESS THESE SAVINGS:
To take advantage of this CFA member benefit, contact Michael Sherrard at msherrard@sherrardkuzz.com or 416-603-6240.

UPCOMING WEBINARS

JULY 21, 2020
AT 2:00 PM ET

Getting consistent, measurable return on investment (ROI) for your marketing efforts has always been hard. Running a business is even harder. In this session, Luke Aulin will untangle the changes you can make in your digital marketing strategy and execution to put your franchise system on the path to measurable, repeatable and scalable results for head office and for your franchisees.

Companion piece by Luke Aulin: 6 Ways to Get Your Franchise Marketing Positioned to Flourish During COVID's "New Normal"

 JULY 22, 2020
AT 2:00 PM ET

Diversity and Inclusion in Franchising
 50 CFE PARTICIPATION  CREDITS  

Members of the franchise community know that everything else aside, franchising is about people - and successful franchise owners are ones who take this to heart. Join this session to gain insight into diversity and inclusion practices that will foster growth and innovation in your workplace, giving your company an extra edge as you grow your business.

 JULY 28, 2020
AT 2:00 PM ET

Navigating the digital world and digitizing your business
 50 CFE PARTICIPATION  CREDITS  

Join this panel discussion for an in-depth conversation about business in the digital world including: digital payments and cyber security, managing the customer experience in a digital world, choosing the right solution(s) for your business and where to find them, moving business processes online (e.g. accounting, payroll, etc.), and managing your data.

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Feedback from our Members

“I would like to take this moment to express how amazing the CFA webinar series has been for myself and my stores. I am regularly sharing the information and enjoy the daily "break" around lunch time, basically having a nearly daily lunch and learn.”

 - Suzanne Howie, Franchise Support, Print Three Franchising Corp.

COVID-19's impact on the world is creating waves across all sectors and industries.

Every member of the CFA community is dealing with an issue that is affecting the world, our industries, our communities, our businesses, and our people.

We would like to hear from you if you have any topics, issues or questions to navigate turbulent times in order to support you further: 

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