The Alberta Court of Appeal (the “ABCA”)’s anticipated decision in Manitok Energy Inc (Re), 2022 ABCA 117 (“Manitok”) confirmed that the sales proceeds of a debtor estate’s valuable petroleum and natural gas assets that are subject environmental claims including, notably, abandonment and reclamation obligations, must first be applied to abandonment and reclamation obligations, even where such assets are “unrelated” to the abandonment and reclamation obligations.

In Canada, there is more than one insolvency regime available to an insolvent company that wishes to restructure its debts and operations. However, the most commonly used regime for large companies ? and sometimes for smaller companies, because it is the most flexible ? is the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (Canada) (CCAA). The most commonly used regime for smaller companies or less complicated restructurings is proposal proceedings under theBankruptcy and Insolvency Act (Canada) (BIA).

CCAA