New CCAA levy funds insolvency oversight

Summary#

This is a proposed change to the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Regulations that would make monitors pay a fixed levy and update three CCAA reporting forms. If adopted, the levy would be $25,000 paid when the initial court application is filed, and the forms would collect clearer, more consistent data about CCAA proceedings.

What it does#

• Introduces a fixed levy of $25,000 to be paid by the monitor at the time the initial CCAA application is filed in court. The levy amount would be indexed each year to the Consumer Price Index on April 1 and rounded to the nearest $5.
• Keeps the levy payment responsibility with the monitor rather than waiting until the end of a case (the proposal rejects stakeholder suggestions to delay payment).
• Updates three prescribed CCAA forms (Forms 1, 2 and 3) to remove duplicate questions, fix wording, and add new data fields (for example, about pension funding, interim and exit financing, and certain payments made during a proceeding).
• The government’s analysis treats this as a proposal open for comment: the notice was published on October 3, 2026, and comments are invited within 30 days of that publication.
• Timing proposed in the regulatory text: the levy would come into force when the regulation is registered; the updated forms would come into force one year after registration.

Who's affected#

• Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy (OSB) — would receive the levy revenue and get more standardized data from monitors.
• Monitors (mandatory Licensed Insolvency Trustee (LIT) professionals) — would pay the $25,000 levy at filing and spend modest extra time entering the new form data.
• Creditors — estate funds used to pay the levy come out before distributions, so creditors could see slightly lower recoveries.
• Employees and pension plan members of companies in CCAA proceedings — the new data fields aim to improve tracking of pension issues and priority treatment.
• Insolvency sector groups such as Canadian Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Professionals (CAIRP) and Insolvency Institute of Canada (IIC) — were consulted; CAIRP and IIC generally supported a $25,000 levy but had preferred a later payment timing.
• Courts, academics and anyone who uses CCAA statistics — would get clearer, more consistent data over time.

If it is unclear who will notice a particular change (for example, exactly how much each small creditor will lose in a single case), the regulatory statement notes that the effect is expected to be small in most cases.

Why it matters#

• Funding and oversight: the OSB says CCAA work was previously paid from general revenues. The levy would give the OSB a dedicated revenue stream (projected to total about $14.5 million over 20 years) so it can do more proactive oversight of complex reorganizations.
• Small, visible cost to estates: the levy comes out of the company’s estate before creditor distributions. Over the analysis period, the government estimates reduced creditor recoveries of about $14.5 million (present value), but it describes the per-case impact as small (about $1 for every $5,000 in estate funds).
• Better data: the updated forms aim to make it easier and cheaper for the OSB and others to find consistent information across cases (estimated savings from easier data collection of about $209,702 over 20 years).
• Trade-offs and consultation: most insolvency professionals consulted supported the idea of a levy but wanted it paid at the end of proceedings. The government kept the requirement that the monitor pay at filing because that follows how the CCAA is written and because many CCAA cases do not produce creditor distributions.
• Overall fiscal balance: the government’s cost‑benefit table projects total benefits of about $14.7 million and total costs of about $14.6 million over 20 years, for a small positive net present value of roughly $140,000. Those figures depend on assumptions about future filing growth and other factors.

Note: this is a proposed regulation (not final). The Canada Gazette notice invites comments, and the final rules could change after consultation.