CPI Plastics Group Ltd., the plastics maker based in Mississauga, Ontario, sought bankruptcy protection in Canada and the U.S., blaming the deepening U.S. recession and rising prices of raw materials, Bloomberg reported. The 37-year-old firm and four of its units were forced into bankruptcy by the Bank of Montreal after CPI’s $3.4 million loss in the fourth quarter violated loan agreements with the bank. CPI, which has a facility in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin, has debt of about $54.4 million and estimated assets of less than $100 million, court papers show.

Strategic Resource Acquisition said on Thursday it had filed for bankruptcy protection as a plunge in metals prices and tight credit conditions left the zinc miner unable to pay its bills, Reuters reported. Toronto-based SRA said it and its U.S. subsidiary, Mid-Tennessee Zinc Corp, have filed for U.S. Chapter 11 protection, and said it was also seeking protection in Canada under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act.

Toronto-based Nortel Networks Corp. filed for bankruptcy protection in Canada and the U.S. on Wednesday, becoming the first major technology company to take that step in this global downturn, the Associated Press reported. The filing came a day before Nortel was due to make a debt payment of $107 million. Facing a sharp drop in orders from phone companies, the telecommunications equipment maker used the bankruptcy filings to buy time to explore restructuring options like selling off assets.

Word that the federal and Ontario governments will provide the struggling auto sector with $4 billion in emergency loans was blasted by opposition critics and was lauded by industry and union spokesmen, the Canadian Press reported. The announcement Saturday by Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty in Toronto came a day after President George W. Bush offered US$17.4 billion in emergency loans to General Motors and Chrysler. Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty had promised Canada would offer 20 percent of the U.S.

A collapse of the Detroit Three automakers would put nearly 600,000 Canadians out of work within five years, most of them in Ontario, as the impact ripples through the entire economy according to a report released Tuesday, the Calgary Herald reported. The study, commissioned by the Ontario Manufacturing Council, warned that a collapse of General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC would spread across the country, hitting creditors, suppliers, parts manufacturers and dealerships. The report came as the Canadian and U. S.

Syscan International Inc., a provider of RFID-enabled supply chain solutions, has announced that it has filed under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act and that H.H. Davis & Assoc. Inc. of Montreal, Quebec, has been appointed by the court to handle matters with its creditors, FOXBusiness reported. The board decided to pursue this course of action after the expected private placement with Bluehill ID failed to materialize and after previous attempts to raise capital and effect a company merger and sale were unsuccessful.

Chrysler Canada Inc has warned that it could shift production from two of its plants in Ontario to the United States, cutting more than 8,000 Canadian jobs, if it fails to get the C$1.6 billion ($1.27 billion) it needs in emergency aid from the federal and provincial governments, the Globe and Mail newspaper reported on Tuesday.

The Canadian subsidiaries of the reeling Detroit Three automakers want a total of at least $6 billion in loans and credit lines from the federal and Ontario governments to stay alive, but won't go into much detail on how they would spend the money, the Toronto Star reported Saturday. General Motors of Canada Ltd., the country's biggest automaker, is seeking $800 million by year's end and $1.6 billion later, while Chrysler Canada Inc. is asking for $1.6 billion, according to sources familiar with the submissions.

Bankruptcies in Canada numbered 9,468 in October, up 7.2 percent from September and 21.1 percent from October 2007, with the pain concentrated among individuals, the Canadian Press reported today. The office of the federal Superintendent of Bankruptcy reported yesterday that 8,972 consumers filed for bankruptcy in October, up 7.5 percent from October and 22.8 percent from a year earlier. Business bankruptcies totalled 496 for the month, up 1.4 percent from the previous month but down 3.3 percent from the year-ago corporate toll.

A C$32 billion ($26 billion) plan to swap frozen commercial paper in Canada for longer-term notes won’t be done by the end of November, missing a deadline set by an investors’ committee overseeing the restructuring, Bloomberg reported yesterday. The group is required to post agreements related to the swap on the Internet no later than seven days before the closing, according to a June court order. No documents have been posted on the Web site of Ernst & Young Inc., the accounting firm appointed to monitor the process.