Essay Example about Business Laws and Regulations

Business laws and legislation made in the modern-day today have seen various businesses across various countries flourish or fall. In Canada for instance, there are different vehicles available for conducting business, among them, the country's business laws and regulations which have arguably helped the country weather the recent period of international uncertainty and volatility in the business market. According to a recent post by the Forbes magazine, Canada has ranked the best country across the glove in which to do business, owing to the fact that it is also the fastest growing G-7 nation. This being said, the core intent of this essay is to discuss the business laws and regulations that govern the conduct of enterprises in Canada, and also why it is important for business managers to understand them.

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To begin with, for every business manager and owner, understanding your business and how legal changes affect you both today and tomorrow is considered critical. This being said, Canada, as a federation in which governmental powers are divided between the federal government and provincial governments pursuant has set jurisdictions over private business transactions that ought to be understood by all the business owners in the country. In particular, the first and most important law that should be critically known by business owners is the provincial law. This, in essence, is a law which governs the forms of business organization. Nonetheless, according to IBP, Inc. (2016) a business owner who wishes to carry on their business in more than one province is expected to incorporate under the federal law. Unlike the provincial law, the federal law governing businesses in Canada permits business owners and business managers to carry on businesses in every business in Canada, allowing the business to operate without having to require a license from the province. However, if the company or the business incorporates provincially, it must be registered, and the business owners may be required to obtain an extra-provincial license in the other provinces where it carries on business.

Besides, business owners ought to be well aware of the federal rules and regulations that govern foreign business. In Canada, for instance, business managers ought to critically understand the Investment Canada Act, which is a federal statute of broad application that essentially regulates the investments done in Canadian businesses by the non-Canadians (IBP, Inc., 2016). Depending on the investor's status, or the value of the assets being directly or indirectly acquired, the investments done by non-Canadians for the sake of acquiring control over existing Canadian businesses, may either be notifiable or reviewable under the act. In this regard, it is important that business managers and owners understand that acquiring control of an existing Canadian business or even establishing a new one can be reviewable without putting into great consideration, the asset values. This, however, is only done under the condition of if it falls within a prescribed business activity that is related to Canada's national identity or even the country's cultural heritage.

The competition law is yet another legislation that should be considered critical by business owners. This is a law that falls under the Competition Act, which is administered by the Commissioner of Competition and hence is considered Canada's antitrust legislation. According to Coleman (1988) this law is overly important to business owners and managers since it addresses three most significant areas; merger regulation, criminal offenses, and most importantly the civilly reviewable conduct. For instance, in Canada, the general criminal offense is important for businesses since it prohibits both formal and informal agreements which limit, lessen or completely prevent competition unduly. Also, business owners should be well aware of this law since it prohibits various illegal trade practices of all kinds. For instance, this law considers predatory pricing, price discrimination, bid-rigging, double ticketing pyramid-selling schemes, and deceptive telemarketing, among many others, illegal. The reason why this law is imperative for business managers across the country is owing to the fact that it is essential that managers are running businesses in Canada, to understand that in cases where specified financial thresholds are exceeded, parties, to certain merger transactions will always be expected to provide the Competition Bureau with pre-merger notification.

Additionally, the employment and the labor law is considered one of the most critical legislation in Canada. Unlike the various other laws and regulations governing the businesses, this particular law is designed to regulate both the employment conditions in a business environment as well as the employer-employee relations. The laws and regulations in Canada make this specific law imperative to business managers since, although labor and employment relations are principally considered to be matters within the provincial jurisdiction, there are cases in which the federal government has jurisdiction over specific businesses that are deemed to have a national, international, or interprovincial character. Some of these businesses are such as pipelines, banking, and telecommunications, among others.

In conclusion, based on the laws and regulations acts discussed in this paper, it is evident that business owners and managers must have a general understanding of all the legal aspects of running their businesses. Specifically, in Canada, business managers should understand that different businesses may be subject to specific legal requirements and therefore, they should seek to understand all the essential laws and regulations that govern their enterprises, right before venturing into it.

References

Coleman, W. D. (1988). Business and politics: A study of collective action. Kingston [Ont.: McGill-Queen's University Press.

IBP, Inc. (2016). Canada Company Laws and Regulations Handbook Volume 1 Strategic Information. Ontario: Lulu.com.