Insolvency Reform

Bill C-55 receives Royal Assent
The Industry Minister assures that it will not be proclaimed in force before June 30, 2006, to allow for further legislative and regulatory amendments. The OSB is assessing the regulatory and operational changes and will post them on our website to seek stakeholders’ views.

BILL C-55 (R.S.C. 2005, c. 47)
Bill C-55 is a comprehensive insolvency reform package in Parliament to modernize the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act and the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA), as well as to create the legislative framework for the Wage Earner Protection Program (WEPP), announced May 5, 2005, and tabled June 3, 2005. The Bill received Royal Assent on November 25th, 2005 but has yet to be proclaimed in force.

In 1997, amendments to section 216 of the the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (BIA) and section 22 of the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) included a provision that both Acts would be referred to a Committee of Parliament for review, five years after coming into force.

The Senate Committee on Banking and Commerce commenced its Hearings on the Operation and Administration of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act and the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act on May 7, 2003. At the outset, the Committee declared its intention to extend its mandate to December 15, 2003. The hearings are expected to continue through the summer and the Committee will publish its report in early 2004.

On November 4, 2003, within the framework of the Parliamentary review, the Standing Senate Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce released a report entitled: Debtors and Creditors Sharing the Burden: a Review of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act and the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act.

PITF Final Report
Final report of the Personal Insolvency Task Force - August 2002