Ontario's Arthur Wishart Act gives every prospective franchisee a mandatory waiting period before you sign or pay anything — and, if the franchisor doesn't follow the rules, a right to walk away with your money back. Enter your dates below to see your deadlines.
Enter the date you received the disclosure document and the date you signed (or plan to sign). The result updates instantly — no email required.
This checker covers the disclosure timeline only. Franchise resales have their own exemption rules — see buying a franchise in Ontario → for when a resale can (and can't) skip disclosure.
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The short version — the checker above applies these to your own dates.
On a valid rescission, the franchisor has 60 days to refund what you paid, buy back remaining inventory at the price you paid, and compensate other losses in acquiring and operating the franchise (s. 6(6)) — not modelled by this checker, which only tells you the dates.
Say you received the disclosure document on 2 September 2026 and signed the franchise agreement on 20 September 2026:
Run your own dates in the checker above — it uses the exact same day and year counts, including the leap-year and month-end rollovers the Act's plain wording implies.
No — as long as it's refundable with no deductions, doesn't bind you to go ahead, and doesn't exceed 20% of the franchise fee, capped at $100,000. That cap is set by O. Reg. 581/00, s. 7.1(1), made under s. 5(1)(b) of the Arthur Wishart Act. A deposit that fails any one of those three conditions counts as payment, and the 14-day clock runs from it.
Missing required financial statements, missing material facts, or a document that wasn't delivered as one package at one time (s. 5(3)–(4)), among other content requirements the Act sets out. If the document you received falls short in a way that matters, s. 6(1)'s 60-day rescission window applies, even though you technically received something.
The 60-day and 2-year windows run from receiving disclosure or signing the agreement — not from when you stop operating, and not from when you first notice a problem. If a deadline looks close, get advice quickly; these are statutory limitation periods, not guidelines.
Sometimes not. Section 5(7)(a) exempts a grant by an existing franchisee for their own account, provided the grant isn't effected by or through the franchisor and a few other conditions are met — in practice, resales often fail that exemption because the franchisor runs the transfer process. This checker assumes disclosure is required; see our franchise purchase page for the resale-exemption test.
The day and year counts follow the Act's own wording exactly (s. 5(1), s. 6(1), s. 6(2)), including how a deadline lands when it falls on a date that doesn't exist in the target month (e.g. 29 February in a non-leap year rolls to 1 March). It doesn't assess whether your specific disclosure document was actually complete, or whether a resale exemption applies — a lawyer can confirm both before any deadline passes.
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Book a 20-minute call with a business lawyer — $150, HST included, credited in full toward your file once payment is received.
This is a 20-minute call. We cover as much as we can and stop at twenty minutes. If more is needed, we will say what the next step is and what it would cost.
“I was buying into an existing franchise system, and getting the franchise agreement explained before I signed made me feel prepared.”
E.C. · Franchise purchase · Simcoe County
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Read more reviews →These are estimates for planning. They are not legal advice and they do not create a solicitor-client relationship. Last reviewed 23 September 2026.