Almost every major company in North America has implemented some form of work-from-home procedure in response to the COVID-19 health crisis. In today`s environment, where much of the business world is adapting to a remote work environment, people who negotiate business from home are faced with the question of how to ensure that the contracts they sign electronically are legally binding. The authors should keep in mind that this clause tends to be a bit outdated. Many clauses, including our standard, do not contain any reference to signed copies faxed or sent by e-mail. This seems usual when signing the order. However, authors should consider validating a statement when registering signatures transmitted by fax or e-mail/PDF. See our alternatives below for an example language. i For more details and an overview of the complex international legal landscape of laws and forms for electronic signatures, see Lothar Determann, eSignature Laws Need Upgrades (papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3436327), in 72 Hastings Law Journal 2020; and Lothar Determann, Learning the E-Signature Essentials (www.law.com/therecorder/2020/03/26/learning-the-e-signature-essentials/) published in The Recorder. ii It is a good practice for parties to explain their consent to the use of DocuSign (or an equivalent sign), which can be done via authenticated email. iii This is not an exhaustive list of exclusions. The specific applicable law of a contract should be consulted in order to confirm whether, in a given context, a physical record or a wet ink signature is necessary or not. Earlier this year, the ACF defined its « monitoring approach » and « implementation approach » (the « Documents ») to provide more.
In the absence of requirements (contractual or legal), acts can be performed by electronic signatures. However, it is important to note that the deed submitted to the cadastre cannot be signed electronically. Unless this Agreement expressly requires or authorizes anything else, all notices and other communications of this Agreement (a) shall be addressed personally to the party referred to below, (b) by registered letter with an acknowledgment of return requested in a secure envelope; (c) by night mail with proof of delivery by an internationally recognised delivery service, (d) by a confirmed booklet; or by electronic communications.