The Business Corporations Act (Alberta) (ABCA) received an overhaul this week. Bill 84, Business Corporations Amendment Act, 2021 came into force on May 31, 2022. That Bill introduced several changes to the ABCA. These amendments are intended to modernize Alberta's corporate legislation to attract investment and make Alberta the leading province for corporations in Canada.

With businesses focused on the impact of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on current and future liquidity, balance sheet and cash flow concerns, and an expected decline in the level and profitability of business activity in these difficult and uncertain times, in many cases attention has turned to the issue of the duties and responsibilities of directors to creditors when a corporation is financially troubled and is either approaching insolvency (the so-called “zone of insolvency”) or becomes insolvent.

The Coronavirus pandemic, while primarily a public health issue, is creating numerous legal concerns. We have identified some of the key issues and developments below. In addition, we have formed a task force comprised of partners and senior lawyers from across all practice groups and offices to track developments and provide timely guidance to clients on Coronavirus-related issues.

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