As fire ripped through Fort McMurray, oil companies severely pulled back or stopped pumping altogether. Production dropped by a million barrels a day, roughly 40 percent of Alberta’s output, the International New York Times reported. While the oil markets have remained relatively stable and production is slowly picking up, the economic blow is significant to a region and a country already battered by weak oil prices and uncertainty over global growth. Oil companies could take weeks or months to get fully up and running, depriving the province of Alberta of royalty payments.

Canadian oil and gas producer Lightstream Resources warned on Monday it could fail to meet a debt payment obligation due in mid-June if it is unable to bolster its balance sheet through asset sales, Reuters reported. The Calgary-based company also said its borrowing base had been cut to C$250 million ($199.52 million), giving it 90 days to repay its credit shortfall of C$121 million or trigger a debt default.

Alberta’s remorseless economic pain has the province leading the nation in increased insolvency, with an 18.1 per cent jump in 2015 over the previous year, The Calgary Herald reported. Among major cities, consumers in a Calgary broadsided by slumping oil prices were the hardest-hit, with a 19.2 per cent hike in bankruptcy and those renegotiating their debts, says Statistics Canada. In contrast, there was a six per cent decrease in insolvency among consumers in Toronto, highlighting a dramatic west to east shift in economic fortunes.

A Canadian rating agency will decide on Friday whether to maintain or cut off life support to Portugal’s fragile economic recovery, the Financial Times reported. If DBRS downgrades Lisbon to below investment grade, as Fitch, Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s have already done, the country will automatically be excluded from the European Central Bank’s quantitative easing bond-buying programme, of which Portugal has been a leading beneficiary. “A positive rating decision by DBRS is crucial for the Lisbon government,” said Antonio Barroso, an analyst with the Teneo risk consultancy.

Urbancorp, one of Canada’s largest residential developers, has filed for a restructuring that includes selling off assets as the company seeks to dig itself out of debt, Bloomberg News reported. The company has filed for the restructuring under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act and is seeking court approval to sell assets "to maximize real estate values for the benefit of creditors and other stakeholders," the Toronto-based firm said in statement Friday.

The receiver in Canada's latest oil and gas insolvency case will not attempt to sell the company's Alberta assets because of concerns about provincial regulations around oil well cleanup costs, according to a source close to the matter, Reuters reported. A Vancouver court appointed Ernst & Young as receiver for Terra Energy Corp last week after the company's lender Canadian Western Bank demanded full repayment of its C$15.9 million loan.

Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. has moved a step closer to getting a default waived and loosening restrictions on its loan pact after offering more money to its lenders, according to people with knowledge of the matter, Bloomberg News reported. To win creditors over, the company is boosting the interest on its term loans by one percentage-point, with the new rate set to stay in place for at least a year, said the people, who asked not to be identified as the information isn’t public.

Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc's directors and key officers have received a cease-trade order by the securities regulator in the Canadian province of Quebec, on the company's request, Valeant said on Thursday, Reuters reported. In a separate statement, the Autorité Des Marches Financiers (AMF) said the order against trading shares takes effect Thursday and is in place for 15 days. Included in the order are Chief Executive Mike Pearson, Chief Financial Officer Robert Rosiello and board member Bill Ackman.

Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. said Wednesday it was seeking more room from lenders to stave off a potential default. But stock investors were unnerved, as Valeant inched back from earlier assurances about its ability to hit financial targets required by its lenders, The Wall Street Journal reported. The Canadian drug company, struggling in recent months with questions over its accounting and business practices, said it had begun seeking a deal with lenders to give it more time to file its delayed 10-K annual report.

Canadian gold miner Rubicon Minerals Corp said there was significant doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern after it breached a loan covenant, Reuters reported. Rubicon, which suffered a major setback in January when it had to cut the gold reserve estimate for its Phoenix mine in Ontario by 86 percent, said it continues to evaluate strategic options and that it was in talks with lenders.