John Beverley & Associates

Corporate  & CCAA

If the difficulty is considered to be a one-off problem or a temporary set back it is possible that the company can be saved by a formal arrangement with the company's creditors.  There are two types of arrangements available:

  • A corporate Proposal under the Bankruptcy & Insolvency Act, which is the most common solution.
  • A filing under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA), which is mostly of value in complex and larger re-organizations.  Companies such as Air Canada have utilized this process to restructure.

In order for a Corporate Proposal to succeed it will generally be necessary for the directors to show that:

  • The problem which caused the difficulties has been corrected.
  • The company can in future be profitable.
  • The creditors will receive a greater return than they would if the company was to be liquidated.
  • The creditors will generally receive a reasonable percentage of their money back from the proposal.

There are several other factors which will affect the likelihood of the success of a corporate proposal, such as;

  • The percentage of their debt the creditors would recover.
  • The existence of secured creditors.
  • The existence of Trust debts such as payroll deductions or GST/HST debt owed to the Government.
  • Actions already taken by the creditors.

It will be necessary for the directors to prepare a "statement of cash flow" for a reasonable period of time to show that there is a realistic possibility for the company to pay its ongoing commitments as well as being able to contribute funds towards the proposal.

If your business is a proprietorship, it is not considered a company but rather an extension of the owner.  It is not a separate legal entity. All proprietorship debts are in fact the responsibility of the proprietor.  Please therefore refer to options listed under "Personal Solutions".