Canada

Personal insolvencies become more common when interest rates rise. In Canada, people are filing for insolvency at a higher rate than usual, The Post Millennial reported. According to The Toronto Star, experts are saying that we haven’t had this many instances since the financial crisis in 2008-09. President of the Canadian Association of Insolvency and Restricting Professionals, Grant Christensen said, “It’s fairly clear what’s going on.

Celadon Group is seeking to have its U.S. Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings recognized in Canada, court filings show, Freight Waves reported. But an ongoing federal investigation into the dismissals at Hyndman Transport might complicate that. Celadon will petition an Ontario court, likely the Superior Court of Justice, to have the U.S. bankruptcy recognized as the primary proceeding, according to documents in Celadon’s Chapter 11 case underway at U.S. federal bankruptcy court in Delaware. The U.S.

Alberta's volume of insolvency filings continues to surpass the numbers seen during the global financial crisis a decade ago, as people and businesses still suffer the effects of the latest recession, CBC reported. The latest report from the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy Canada says there were 15 per cent more consumer insolvencies in Alberta during the 12 months ending in October 2019, compared to a year earlier. The report says 16,315 Albertans filed for insolvency during that time, compared with 14,192 the previous year.

Employees’ and contractors’ struggles with Celadon-owned Hyndman over outstanding pay and questions about the fate of leased trucks are compounded by the lack of legal proceedings in Canada, but that could change, FreightWaves reported. Former employees and contractors are facing the staggering challenge of claiming what they say Celadon owes them under Canadian law. Making matters more difficult, Celadon hasn’t filed for bankruptcy in Canada — something that ironically could help former Canadian workers make claims and secure federal benefits.

Nemaska Lithium, a Canadian lithium producer backed by SoftBank, has filed for bankruptcy protection as it scrambles to raise emergency funding to keep its flagship project alive, the Financial Times reported. The Toronto-listed company has been struggling to finance development of Whabouchi, a lithium mine and processing facility in Quebec, amid a cost blowout and a steep fall in the price of the metal, a constituent of electric car batteries. Nemaska on Monday said it was seeking protection from its creditors to give it sufficient time to complete a refinancing.

Lawyers for customers of an insolvent cryptocurrency exchange have asked police to exhume the body of the company’s founder, amid efforts to recover about $190 million (€170.5 million) in Bitcoin which were locked in an online black hole after his death. Miller Thomson LLP sent a letter to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police on Friday, requesting authorities “conduct an exhumation and postmortem autopsy” on the body of Gerald Cotten, founder of QuadrigaCX, citing what the firm called the “questionable circumstances” around his death earlier this year, The Irish Times reported.

Alberta may consider buying back some of its bonds in an effort to smooth its maturities as its debt outstanding rises, Bloomberg News reported. The buy-back strategy, including terms and amounts, is still under analysis, according to Jerrica Goodwin, an Edmonton-based spokeswoman at Alberta’s finance ministry said. The plan, which may start as soon as the next fiscal year beginning in April, won’t reduce overall debt outstanding but could allow Alberta to spread out maturities over the longer term, she said.