B.C. Business Corporations Act
The B.C. Courthouse Library Society is pleased to answer queries regarding their services, sources for legal information, and legal reference questions. Fax questions to 604-660-2821, call 604-660-2841 or e-mail bccls@bccls.bc.ca.

Where can I find information about the new B.C. Business Corporations Act?

The new Act has been a while in the making. A new Company Act, S.B.C. 1999, c.27 was introduced and passed July 1999 but was never brought into force. The Business Corporations Act, S.B.C. 2002, c. 57 received Royal Assent on October 31, 2002 and will repeal and replace the current Company Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c.62. This new act is expected to be brought into force by regulation in the fall or early winter. Amending legislation has already been introduced; the Business Corporations Amendment Act, 2003 (Bill 60) received 1st reading on May 27, 2003 before the Legislature adjourned for the summer.

As well as the act, the following are posted for public consultation and input from interested parties:

• draft regulation (www.fin.gov.bc.ca) and
• draft forms (www.fin.gov.bc.ca)

The B.C. Courthouse Library Society also has various publications regarding the new Act. A few specific titles include:

• Annotated B.C. Business Corporations Act (Annotations are from the previous Company Act; there is a Table of Concordance as well as the new Act). Available in Vancouver, Kamloops, Kelowna, Nanaimo, New Westminster, Prince George and Victoria
• B.C. Business Corporations Act Transition Guide (CLE). Available in most courthouse libraries throughout the province.
• B.C. Company Law Practice Manual (also CLE, with a new edition expected in September 2003). Available in most courthouse libraries throughout the province.

The Ministry of Finance developed a Business Corporations Act Project Web site (www.fin.gov.bc.ca/registries/corppg) to provide information on how users will interact with the Corporate Registry under the new Act, links to the relevant legislation, answers to “Frequently Asked Questions” and contact names and addresses for the User Forum and other support services.

CLE also has links to articles, legislation and other resources in their “Spotlight - Focus on the new Business Corporations Act” (www.cle.bc.ca).

A research guide for the new Act is available at www.bccls.bc.ca in the Research Help section. The guide will be updated as new resources become available.

This article was published in the October 2003 issue of BarTalk. © 2003 The Canadian Bar Association. All rights reserved.