The New West Partnership Trade Agreement (NWPTA) was signed by the premiers of Alberta, British Columbia and Saskatchewan in April 2012.  It extends the benefits of the Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement (TILMA) that was signed in April 2006.  The intent of the NWPTA agreement is to:

• Strengthen the economies of the three provinces by creating a more open and competitive marketplace,

• Reconcile and streamline extra-provincial business registration, including new and other extra-provincial registrations, across the three participating provinces,

• Introduce flexible regulations and processes that can encompass future additional provincial jurisdictions,

• Establish an open, efficient and stable domestic market in Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia, and

• Demonstrate the benefits of free trade within Canada.

The direct impact to the BC Registry Service and its clients relates to the registration of various BC legal entities as extraprovincial entities in Alberta and Saskatchewan, and vice versa.

Specifically, the agreement requires the three registries to facilitate extraprovincial registration for the following domestic legal entities:

• Incorporated companies

• Currently in effect for Alberta and to be extended to Saskatchewan on July 1, 2013

• • Limited Partnerships

  • Limited Liability Partnerships

  • Cooperative Associations

The agreement also eliminated:

• The requirement to file an extraprovincial annual report, and

• All statutory filing fees