Blog
Commencing July 5th, 2021, Ontario is removing its minimum resident Canadian director requirement
A challenge for many foreign businesses operating in Canada has been our history of requiring the boards of directors of Canadian business corporations to include a minimum number of resident Canadians. While several provinces have already moved away from this policy,...
Ontario Securities Commission Announces That Office of Economic Growth and Innovation Is Now Operational
On May 20th, the Ontario Securities Commission (“OSC”) announced that their Office of Economic Growth and Innovation (the “Innovation Office”) is up and running. The purpose of the Innovation Office is to help innovative businesses navigate securities law by providing...
Knowing When You Must Register for Trading or Advising in Securities: The Business Trigger Test
If you’re involved in assisting companies to raise capital through the sale of shares or other securities, or assisting investors to locate opportunities, you must assess whether you need to be a registered securities dealer/advisor. The key assessment that determines...
Data Privacy – Part 3: Dealing with a Privacy Breach
The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the transition to a more digital workplace. Now, it is more convenient than ever before to store and process data, including personal information. With this transition comes a good opportunity to revisit an issue that all Canadian...
Data Privacy – Part 2: Privacy Policy
The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the transition to a more digital workplace. Now, it is more convenient than ever before to store and process data, including personal information. With this transition comes a good opportunity to revisit an issue that all Canadian...
Data Privacy – Part 1: Personal Information
The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the transition to a more digital workplace. Now, it is more convenient than ever before to store and process data, including personal information. With this transition comes a good opportunity to revisit an issue that all Canadian...
When Non-voting Shares Get to Vote Part II
In “When Non-voting Shares Get to Vote” we looked at how calling a share a ‘non-voting’ share is a bit of a misnomer. Under Canadian corporate statutes even non-voting shares have the right to vote in certain circumstances and at best should be called ‘mostly...
Personal Real Estate Corporations: A New Way to Save Money for Brokers and Real Estate Agents
On October 1, 2020, the Ontario government announced new regulations and amendments to the Real Estate and Business Brokers Act, 2002 (REBBA) that allow real estate brokers and salespersons to incorporate “personal real estate corporations” (“PRECs”). Simply put, the...
When Non-voting Shares Get to Vote Part I
There are many reasons for issuing non-voting shares: incentivizing employees with equity, issuing shares to family members, or capital raising through crowdfunding campaigns. In most cases, these reasons are balanced with a founder’s desire to maintain control over...
Covid-19: Can I Layoff My Employees?
For many businesses the onset of Covid-19 has resulted in loss of work, cancellation of contracts and in some cases even a cessation of all business activity. Most of us are familiar with layoffs in the context of a unionized environment. One of the most common...
