jswizzle3737/ontario_laws_and_regs huggingface dataset:
0.1 For the purposes of the Act, “franchisor’s agent” means a sales agent of the franchisor who is engaged by the franchisor’s broker and who is directly involved in the granting of a franchise.  O. Reg. 69/04, s. 1.
1. For the purpose of paragraph 3 of subsection 2 (3) of the Act, a co-operative association is defined as, (a)  an organization operated on a co-operative basis by and for independent retailers that, (i)  purchases or arranges the purchase of, on a non-exclusive basis, wholesale goods or services primarily for resale by its member retailers, and (ii)  does not grant representational rights or exercise significant operational control over its member retailers; (b)  a “co-operative corporation” as defined under subsection 136 (2) of the Income Tax Act (Canada) or would be a co-operative corporation as defined in that subsection, but for paragraph 136 (2) (c); (c)  an organization incorporated under the Canada Cooperatives Act (Canada); or (d)  an organization incorporated under the Co-operative Corporations Act.  O. Reg. 581/00, s. 1; O. Reg. 611/00, s. 1. PART II   DISCLOSURE DOCUMENTS
3. (1) Every disclosure document shall include, (a)  an audited financial statement for the most recently completed fiscal year of the franchisor’s operations, prepared in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards as set out, (i)  in the CPA Canada Handbook — Assurance, (ii)  by the Auditing Standards Board of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants or the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board of the United States, as applicable, or (iii)  by the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board; (b)  a financial statement for the most recently completed fiscal year of the franchisor’s operations, prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles that meet the review and reporting standards applicable to review engagements as set out, (i)  in the CPA Canada Handbook — Accounting, (ii)  by the Financial Accounting Standards Board of the United States, or (iii)  by the International Accounting Standards Board; or (c)  if a regulation has been made under subsection 13 (2) of the Act in respect of the franchisor, a declaration that the franchisor is exempt from the requirement to provide the financial statement described in clause (a) or (b), and that the franchisor meets the criteria prescribed for the purpose of that exemption.  O. Reg. 581/00, s. 3 (1); O. Reg. 69/04, s. 3; O. Reg. 199/05, s. 1; O. Reg. 418/20, s. 1. (2) Despite subsection (1), if 180 days have not yet passed since the end of the most recently completed fiscal year and a financial statement has not been prepared and reported for that year, the disclosure document shall include a financial statement for the previous fiscal year that is prepared in accordance with the requirements in clause (1) (a) or (b).  O. Reg. 581/00, s. 3 (2). (3) Despite subsection (1), if a franchisor has operated for less than one fiscal year or if 180 days have not yet passed since the end of the first fiscal year of operations and a financial statement for that year has not been prepared in accordance with the requirements in clause (1) (a) or (b), the disclosure document shall include the opening balance sheet for the franchisor.  O. Reg. 581/00, s. 3 (3).
4. For the purpose of clause 5 (4) (d) of the Act, every disclosure document shall include the following statements together in one section at the beginning of the document: 1.  A commercial credit report is a report which may include information on the franchisor’s business background, banking information, credit history and trade references. Such reports may be obtained from private credit reporting companies and may provide information useful in making an investment decision. 2.  Independent legal and financial advice in relation to the franchise agreement should be sought prior to entering into the franchise agreement. 3.  A prospective franchisee is strongly encouraged to contact any current or previous franchisees prior to entering into the fran­chise agreement. 4.  The cost of goods and services acquired under the franchise agreement may not correspond to the lowest cost of the goods and services available in the marketplace. O. Reg. 581/00, s. 4.
5. (1) If an internal or external mediation or other alternative dispute resolution process is used by a franchisor in disputes with a franchisee, a disclosure document shall include, together with the statement referred to in subsection (2), a description of the mediation or other alternative dispute resolution process, and the circumstances when the process may be invoked.  O. Reg. 581/00, s. 5 (1). (2) Every disclosure document shall include the following statement: Mediation is a voluntary process to resolve disputes with the assistance of an independent third party. Any party may propose mediation or other dispute resolution process in regard to a dispute under the franchise agreement, and the process may be used to resolve the dispute if agreed to by all parties. O. Reg. 581/00, s. 5 (2).
7. (1) Every disclosure document shall include a certificate certifying that the document, (a)  contains no untrue information, representations or statements; and (b)  includes every material fact, financial statement, statement and other information required by the Act and this Regulation.  O. Reg. 581/00, s. 7 (1). (2) A certificate referred to in subsection (1) shall be signed and dated by, (a)  in the case of a franchisor that is not incorporated, the franchisor; (b)  in the case of a franchisor that is incorporated and has only one director or officer, by that person; (c)  in the case of a franchisor that is incorporated and has more than one officer or director, by at least two persons who are officers or directors.  O. Reg. 581/00, s. 7 (2).
7.1 (1) For the purposes of subclauses 5 (1) (b) (i) and 5 (5) (b) (i) of the Act, the prescribed amount is 20 per cent of the franchise fee, to a maximum of $100,000. O. Reg. 418/20, s. 3. (2) A statement of material change shall include a certificate certifying that it, (a)  contains no untrue information, representations or statements, whether of a material change or otherwise; and (b)  includes every material change. O. Reg. 418/20, s. 3. (3) A certificate referred to in subsection (2) shall be signed and dated by, (a)  in the case of a franchisor that is not incorporated, the franchisor; (b)  in the case of a franchisor that is incorporated and has only one director or officer, by that person; or (c)  in the case of a franchisor that is incorporated and has more than one officer or director, by at least two persons who are officers or directors. O. Reg. 418/20, s. 3. PART III   EXEMPTIONS
8. For the purposes of clause 5 (7) (e) of the Act, the prescribed percentage is 20 per cent.  O. Reg. 581/00, s. 8.
9. (1) For the purposes of subclause 5 (7) (g) (i) and clause 5 (7) (h) of the Act, a total initial investment is determined by all of the franchisee’s costs associated with the establishment of the franchise, including, (a)  the amount of any deposits or franchise fees; (b)  an estimate of the costs for inventory, leasehold improvements, equipment, leases, rentals and all other tangible and intangible property necessary to establish the franchise; and (c)  any other costs or estimates of costs associated with the establishment of the franchise not listed in clause (a) or (b), including any payment to the franchisor, whether direct or indirect, required by the franchise agreement. O. Reg. 418/20, s. 4. (2) For the purposes of subclause 5 (7) (g) (i) of the Act, the prescribed amount is $15,000. O. Reg. 418/20, s. 4. (3) For the purposes of clause 5 (7) (h) of the Act, the prescribed amount is $3,000,000. O. Reg. 418/20, s. 4.
10. Revoked: O. Reg. 418/20, s. 4.
12. (1) For the purposes of subsection 5 (2) of the Act, a franchisor may deliver a disclosure document to a prospective franchisee by electronic transmission if, (a)  the document is delivered in a form that enables the recipient to view, store, retrieve and print it; (b)  the document contains no links to external documents or content; (c)  the document contains an index for each separate electronic file, if any, of which the document consists, where each index sets out, (i)  the file name, and (ii)  if the file name is not sufficiently descriptive of the subject matter dealt with in the file, a statement of that subject matter; and (d)  the franchisor receives a written acknowledgment of receipt from the prospective franchisee. O. Reg. 164/16, s. 2. (2) A franchisor may deliver a disclosure document to a prospective franchisee by courier if the franchisor pays the costs of the delivery. O. Reg. 164/16, s. 2.
13. (1) For the purposes of subsection 6 (3) of the Act, a franchisee may deliver a notice of rescission by prepaid courier to the franchisor’s address for service in the franchise agreement. O. Reg. 164/16, s. 2. (2) A notice of rescission delivered in accordance with subsection (1) shall be deemed to be delivered to the franchisor on the second day after the day of delivery by courier. O. Reg. 164/16, s. 2.  Français