[co-author: Cass Bruni, Articling Student]

Certain amendments to the Business Corporations Act (Alberta) (ABCA) are now in effect.

Corporations formed under the ABCA are no longer required to have any of their directors be "resident Canadians", as defined in the ABCA. Removal of the residency requirement brings Alberta in line with various other jurisdictions in Canada. As noted in our October 2020 Blakes Bulletin – Ontario Proposes Changes to Business Corporations Act, Ontario has proposed a similar change to the Business Corporations Act (Ontario) but such amendment has not yet been proclaimed into force.

Corporations formed and existing under the ABCA are now required to appoint an agent for service who is resident in Alberta. Existing corporations will have a one-year period to do so or the Alberta Registrar of Corporations may dissolve the corporation.

While not discussed herein, certain amendments to the Companies Act are also in effect and are intended to ease prescriptive organizational requirements for non-profit organizations formed thereunder.

These amendments (among others) demonstrate the efforts of the Alberta government to incentivize economic growth in Alberta by making the province a simpler and more attractive jurisdiction for businesses to set up and operate. For more information on the amendments, please see our August 2020 Blakes Bulletin - Restoring the Alberta Advantage: Increased Simplicity for Businesses.