Bill Pr4 changes the statutory name of Canadian University College to Burman University. It renames the governing Act, updates the corporation’s statutory description and replaces the former name throughout specified provisions of the Act.
The measure is narrowly drafted. It does not create a new institution, revise the college’s governance model, alter its Seventh-day Adventist membership requirement or amend its academic mandate.
Its practical purpose is to align the institution’s private statute with its new public identity and remove an obsolete citation provision.
At a Glance
What It Does
The bill renames the Canadian University College Act as the Burman University Act and continues the existing corporation under the name “Burman University.” It also replaces references to “Canadian University College” in specified provisions and repeals the section authorizing the former short title.
Who It Affects
Burman University, its corporate members and governing bodies are directly affected because the institution’s statutory name and the wording of its constituting Act change. Alberta government offices, regulators, counterparties and legal practitioners that rely on the private Act must use the new name in statutory references.
Why It Matters
This is a legal identity update rather than a restructuring of the institution. The bill demonstrates how Alberta’s private bills can maintain continuity for an incorporated institution while formally updating the name under which it operates.
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What This Bill Actually Does
Bill Pr4 amends the 1940 Alberta statute that incorporated the institution then known as Canadian Junior College. The legislation records the institution’s statutory naming history and replaces the Act’s title with “Burman University Act.” That change matters because the statute, not merely the institution’s branding materials, is the legal source of the corporation’s existence and powers.
The bill continues the existing Canadian University College as a corporation under the name “Burman University.” It does not dissolve and recreate the corporation. That continuity preserves the existing legal entity while changing the name by which it is identified in the governing statute.
The revised continuation provision also states that the corporation consists of members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church who are elected or appointed under the by-laws.The legislation then updates the institution’s name wherever it appears in sections 1(2), 1(3), 1(4), 3, 4, 7, 9.1 and 9.2. These are conforming amendments: they prevent the statute from mixing the old and new names across provisions that continue to govern the institution.
The bill does not reproduce or revise the underlying powers in those sections; it changes the institutional reference.Finally, the bill repeals section 13.1, which supplied the former short title, “Canadian University College Act.” Once the Act’s title changes, retaining that citation would leave the statute with an outdated formal name. The repeal removes that conflict rather than imposing a new regulatory scheme.
The Five Things You Need to Know
The bill changes the statute’s title from the Canadian University College Act to the Burman University Act.
Section 1(1) continues the existing corporation under the name “Burman University,” rather than creating a replacement corporation.
The corporation’s membership remains tied to members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church elected or appointed under the by-laws.
The bill makes conforming name substitutions in sections 1(2), 1(3), 1(4), 3, 4, 7, 9.1 and 9.2.
Section 13.1 is repealed because it authorized the obsolete short title “Canadian University College Act.”.
Section-by-Section Breakdown
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Amend the governing Act and its title
Section 1 identifies the 1940 incorporation statute as the Act being amended. Section 2 replaces the Act’s title with “Burman University Act,” giving the institution’s new name formal statutory status.
The change is foundational but limited: it updates the name of the legal instrument without revising the corporation’s substantive powers or governance provisions.
Update the preamble and continue the corporation under its new name
Section 3 replaces the historic preamble with a shorter account of the institution’s incorporation and prior name changes. It also states that the petition seeks the further change to “Burman University.”
Section 4 replaces the corporation’s continuation provision. The existing Canadian University College remains the same corporation, but it operates under the name “Burman University.” The provision retains the requirement that membership consist of eligible members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church selected under the by-laws.
Make conforming references and remove the obsolete citation clause
Section 5 substitutes “Burman University” for “Canadian University College” in the listed provisions of the Act. This ensures that operational and governance provisions refer consistently to the institution’s new statutory name.
Section 6 repeals section 13.1, which provided the Act’s former short title. The repeal prevents the statute from continuing to identify itself by the old institutional name.
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Who Benefits
- Burman University’s administration and governing body, because the statutory name will match the institution’s operating identity and reduce discrepancies across legal and administrative documents.
- The institution’s students, faculty and alumni, because the legislation preserves the existing corporation rather than requiring relationships, records or assets to be transferred to a newly incorporated entity.
- Seventh-day Adventist Church members who participate in the institution’s governance, because the bill retains the existing membership structure and by-law-based appointment process.
- Alberta public authorities, registries and legal practitioners, because the statute will provide a single formal name for citations, filings and legal dealings involving the institution.
Who Bears the Cost
- Burman University’s administrators and legal advisers, who must update contracts, policies, registrations, stationery, records and other materials that cite the former statutory name.
- Government offices and counterparties that maintain records referring to Canadian University College, because they must reconcile historical documents with the new statutory name.
- Researchers, counsel and compliance teams reviewing the institution’s legal history, who must account for the renamed Act and the continuity between the former and current corporate names.
- The institution’s governing bodies, to the extent they must coordinate the statutory name change with existing by-laws and internal governance records.
Key Issues
The Core Tension
The bill seeks to make the institution’s legal name reflect its current identity while preserving the continuity of the existing corporation. That approach minimizes disruption, but it shifts the practical burden of proving and documenting the old-to-new name relationship onto the institution, public offices and anyone relying on historical records.
The bill’s narrow drafting leaves most institutional questions outside its scope. It changes the corporation’s name and preserves the existing membership model, but it does not address whether related regulations, agreements, registrations or external references must be updated, nor does it establish a transition period for doing so.
Those matters will have to be managed administratively.
The continuity language is important because it avoids the legal and operational complications of dissolving one corporation and creating another. At the same time, any organization with records spanning the old and new names will need to demonstrate that Burman University is the same continuing corporation as Canadian University College.
The bill supplies the statutory basis for that continuity, but not a detailed implementation process.
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