2017 saw a number of interesting and important developments in Canadian insolvency and restructuring matters. Some of the highlights (which, in certain instances, will continue as issues in 2018 and beyond) are set forth below:
1) Trends: Fewer CCAA Filings and Retail Insolvencies in the News
Introduction
Before July 2016, in order to wind-up a strata corporation voluntarily through a liquidator in B.C., unanimous approval of the strata owners was generally required. The unanimity requirement made strata wind-ups a rare event, and consequently it was exceedingly difficult for owners to sell a strata complex in its entirety for redevelopment. In an influential 2015 report, the B.C. Law Institute (“BCLI”) identified some of the problems with the unanimity requirement:
Joint venture partners commonly enter into operating agreements which grant operators a security interest, referred to as an operator’s lien. Operator’s liens are, for the most part, consensual and contractual security interests subject to the provisions of the Personal Property Security Act, RSA 2000, c P-7 (the “PPSA”) and the priority regime set out therein.
This fall, the NDP and the Bloc Québécois (“Bloc”) have both introduced private member’s bills seeking to amend the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act(“BIA”) and the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (“CCAA”).
Secured creditors have taken note and expressed concern regarding a recent decision from the Federal Court of Appeal (the “FCA”), which has upended conventional wisdom regarding the priority and treatment of GST/HST arrears in a bankruptcy. In Canada v.
We have recently profiled conflicting cases (available here and here) dealing with a priority contest between supe
In a September 19, 2017 decision from the bench in the matter of Bank of Montreal v. Kappeler Masonry Corporation, et. al.1 (“Kappeler Masonry”), Madam Justice Conway of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice (Commercial List) (the “Court”) confirmed that commingling of construction project receipts in a receiver’s estate account is fatal to a Construction Lien Act (Ontario) (the “CLA”) trust claim in the face of a debtor’s bankruptcy.
This blog’s most recent post considered the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia’s June 2017 decision of Rosedale Farms Limited, Hassett Holdings Inc., Resurgam Resources (Re) (“Rosedale”) where the Cou
In the recent decision of Rosedale Farms Limited, Hassett Holdings Inc., Resurgam Resources (Re) (“Rosedale”), the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia held that a deemed trust for unremitted withholdings under sections 227(4)
A recent unreported decision in the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench has clarified the ranking of certain municipal tax claims against a bankrupt in Alberta. In Bank of Nova Scotia et al v. Virginia Hills Oil Corp.