Bill 96, a private member's bill introduced to the Ontario Legislative Assembly to amend and modernize the Electronic Commerce Act, 2000 died when Dalton McGuinty stepped down as Liberal leader and prorogued the Ontario legislature on October 15, 2012. Conservative MPP Todd Smith re-introduced the contents of the bill to the Ontario legislature on March 6, 2013, through Bill 28, an act to amend the Electronic Commerce Act, 2000 (the "Act"). The bill was carried at second reading and referred to the Standing Committee on General Government on March 21, 2013.
The purpose of the bill is to facilitate the use of electronic signatures in real estate transactions by removing the exception in the Act which prohibits land transfer documents from being signed by an electronically generated signature. These documents are still subject to the requirements of section 11(3) of the Act relating to the reliability of electronic signatures.
While some members of the real estate community are sceptical as to whether the Act adequately prescribes what constitutes a reliable signature, others, such as the Ontario Real Estate Association ("OREA") have strongly supported the allowance of electronic signatures in real estate transactions. OREA President Phil Dorner comments: "Agreements of purchase and sale can be amended, initialled, faxed, scanned and emailed numerous times over a transaction and often, by the time, the final version is created, the agreements can be difficult to read. Electronic handling of the agreement where consumers amend and sign using their computers or tablets will eliminate this cumbersome process".
The Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal
Assent.
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