Ontario's Bill 96 proposes amendments to the Electronic Commerce Act directed at using electronic signatures in real estate transactions
On May 17, 2012, Bill 96, An Act to amend the Electronic Commerce Act, 2000, was introduced to amend Ontario’s Electronic Commerce Act (Act) with respect to real estate transactions. Currently in the First Reading stage, the Bill:
- removes the current exclusions from the application of the Act:
- documents of title; and
- land transfer documents - “documents, including agreements of purchase and sale, that create or transfer interests in land and require registration to be effective against third parties”; and
- requires documents related to real estate transactions to be subject to the reliability requirements for electronic signatures pursuant to s.11(3) of the Act
