Standard Template Receivership Order

Please note that these Explanatory Notes have not yet been revised to reflect amendments to the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act and the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act that became effective in September of 2009. Some of the commentary in these Explanatory Notes may have been superseded by those statutory amendments, or may no longer be accurate due to those statutory amendments.

The Commercial List Users' Committee has approved the adoption of a Standard Form Template Receivership Order ("Model Order") and Explanatory Notes, prepared by a sub-committee of the Commercial List Users Committee in conjunction with the Canadian Bar Association, Insolvency section. The Model Order and explanatory notes are to be used as a common starting point for counsel seeking receivership relief on behalf of clients and has already been applied to receivership cases on the Commercial List.

The Model Order is to serve only as a starting point and is drafted to adopt, rather than alter, the substantive provisions of orders made in recent years by judges of the Commercial List. Where counsel choose to adopt provisions that depart from the standard form template, it will be incumbent upon counsel to bring any changes sought to the attention of the Court (including a black-lined version) in order to justify the substantive basis for the relief sought in addition to the usual burden to obtain any receivership order at all.

It is expected that use of the Model Order will help to focus argument and issues specific to each case and may assist in avoiding unnecessary incremental growth.

The Commercial List Users Committee confirms that the Model Order and explanatory notes are not meant to be static, and will be reviewed on a periodic basis in order to ensure that this initiative keeps pace with the state of the art and thereby provides a useful tool that promotes convenience, efficiency and effectiveness.

Copies of the template order and explanatory notes may also be obtained from the Commercial List Office at 393 University Avenue, 10th Floor, Toronto, Ontario M5G 1E6, Telephone 416-327-5043, Fax 416-327-6228.