The Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy supervises the private sector's administration of all bankruptcies, proposals and receiverships in Canada, as per the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act. This includes receiving and evaluating all bankruptcy filings and documents from licensed Trustees in Bankruptcy, and maintaining public records of bankruptcy and insolvency proceedings.

What's available online for clients?

Information services:

Transaction services:

Electronic filing for the five types of bankruptcy (Submission of Summary Administration; Submission of Consumer Proposals; Submission of Ordinary Administration; Submission of Commercial Proposals; and Receiverships).

Clients and benefits of online service

Clients:

Bankruptcy Trustees;
Businesses;
Individuals; and
Creditors.

Benefits:

Trustees and their clients receive faster access to service;
Cost savings;
Simplified interactions with government; and
Faster transaction times.

Our journey to success

Starting in December 2002, the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy (OSB) released the initial phase of the E-Filing system. This phase allowed for the secure electronic submission, over the Internet, of all documents related to Summary Administration estates. Since that time, OSB has released additional E-Filing modules to allow for the electronic submissions of Division II (Consumer) Proposals, Ordinary Administrations and Division I (Commercial) Proposals.

As of December 2005, more than 70 percent of all bankruptcy and insolvency filings were submitted electronically to the E-Filing system. This process has resulted in improving the speed of submission and acceptance of filings for Canadian consumers and businesses. Further, electronically submitted estates allow for faster and more consistent processing throughout the entire life of the filing. For example, on Summary Administrations the time to produce positive Letters of Comment has been reduced from 21 days to a matter of seconds on complete and accurate filings.

Additionally, electronic processing of submissions using the E-Filing system’s business rules and processing logic reduces the amount of time OSB personnel perform on submission validation and accuracy checking. This allows us to redirect our efforts and focus on more complex or higher-risk filings, thereby providing better and more beneficial services to all Canadians filing bankruptcy and insolvency submissions.

With the success and acceptance to date with the E-Filing system, OSB is targeting to achieve the electronic filing of 100 percent of all bankruptcy and insolvency filings that meet E-Filing system criteria.

In summary, the success of the E-Filing system has improved response times for Canadian individuals and businesses during difficult financial times and allows OSB to provide consistent, accurate and timely service to our user community.