Читать книгу Buying a Franchise in Canada - Tony Wilson - Страница 8

Sometimes franchisors will deliberately call their contracts “license agreements” instead of franchise agreements. This is largely done for marketing reasons. Franchising is often perceived as the home of fast food and french fries. Calling the contract a “license agreement” may give the agreement and, I suppose, the franchise system an air of panache and sophistication that a franchise might lack in the eyes of mortals. Nevertheless, you should be aware that all franchises are essentially “licenses.” A license is the right to use the property of another; it does not convey ownership. Accordingly, if there is a fee such as an initial license fee and/or an ongoing royalty fee, and there is the licensed use of the licensor’s trade-mark, and the licensee has been granted the right to engage in the business of offering, selling, or distributing goods or services under a marketing plan or system substantially prescribed by the licensor, then it is a franchise, whatever the licensor calls it.

Ontario, Prince Edward Island, and Alberta have specific legislation governing franchising, which provides definitions of what a “franchise” is, regardless of what the “licensor” has called its business model.