At the same time the cost of living is creeping ever higher, so too are the number of insolvency filings from Canadian consumers, the Toronto Star reported. Data released by the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy Canada shows that the number of Canadians filing for personal bankruptcy may be returning to pre-pandemic levels. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, government subsidies have kept consumer debt at bay resulting in fewer bankruptcies or consumer proposals, a process where a person in debt pays a smaller percentage of owed money to their creditors.

Trustees in bankruptcy are granted protection from civil claims for acts and omissions under the  Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (BIA), as the statute requires that a plaintiff obtain leave of the court to pursue some types of claims, Mondaq reported. In Flight (Re), 2022 ONCA 526 (CanLII), the Ontario Court of Appeal determined that a motion judge erred in allowing a civil action for damages to be pursued against an individual representative of a trustee in bankruptcy without first obtaining leave to do so.

The Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador has approved the sale of 42 properties belonging to the Roman Catholic Episcopal Corporation of St. John's, including 12 churches, as dozens more church property sales loom across eastern Newfoundland, CBC reported. The move will reshape the landscape for Catholics in the St. John's area and beyond as the church — which has been held liable for sexual and physical abuse at the Mount Cashel orphanage — raises money to settle victim claims from the 1940s, '50s and '60s.