Frequently asked questions for businesses

As soon as your business experiences a liquidity problem, a significant contract loss, difficulties paying debts, suppliers, taxes or employees. The earlier you consult us, the more solutions are available.

• Difficulty sleeping and stress;
• Loss of contracts;
• High employee turnover;
• Difficulty earning a reasonable income for your work in the company

Yes, the first consultation is free, confidential and without obligation. It allows you to assess your business’s situation and explore possible solutions.

No documents are required. However, if possible, gather documents that provide a complete picture of the business: recent financial statements, a list of debts, leases, bank statements, tax information, and, if necessary, details about employees (salaries, accrued vacations). This helps evaluate the situation and discuss solutions.

Several solutions can help improve a business’s financial situation, depending on its reality. These may include a recovery plan, a financial analysis, an agreement with creditors, a notice of intention, a proposal to creditors or, in some cases, business bankruptcy. An analysis of the situation helps determine the most appropriate solution.

A notice of intention temporarily protects the business from creditor actions while a solution is being prepared. A proposal to creditors is the next step: it involves proposing an agreement to creditors to repay debts under new terms.

Yes. Generally, the business can continue its operations during the process while working on a solution to reorganize its debts.

No. A consumer proposal is for individuals. A business should instead consider a proposal to creditors.

In some cases, yes. It is possible to arrange an agreement with creditors to consolidate the business’s debts and plan repayments adapted to its financial capacity and available credit terms.

Depending on the situation, your business can avoid bankruptcy through an agreement with creditors, restructuring, or a proposal to creditors. These solutions allow for debt reorganization and continued operations.

Not necessarily. A business’s bankruptcy does not usually affect your personal finances. It depends on administrative responsibilities under various laws, guarantees, or signed sureties, but personal assets are often, at least partially, protected. A consumer or commercial proposal can also address these responsibilities, guarantees, or sureties.

Yes. Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton supports businesses in development, recovery, restructuring, and management, including bookkeeping, auditing, financial statement preparation, financial analysis, planning, and strategic support to achieve their goals.

Yes. Filing a notice of intention or a proposal to creditors generally suspends lawsuits, seizures, and other recovery actions, providing a reprieve to reorganize the business’s finances. Filing for bankruptcy also suspends creditor actions, including most legal proceedings.

In some cases, it is possible to request the lifting of a seizure or bank freeze to allow the business to continue operations and manage essential payments.

Measures exist to maintain essential services during an insolvency procedure.

Several measures exist to protect employees from the impacts of bankruptcy, including the Wage Earner Protection Program, which is generally administered by the trustee. For more information: https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/services/wage-earner-protection/employee.html

Generally, no. It depends on personal commitments, such as guarantees or sureties. In most cases, personal finances remain separate from the business’s finances.

Administrators can be held liable if certain business obligations are not met, including:

• Unpaid source deductions and social contributions
• Unpaid taxes and duties
• Unpaid employee wages and accrued vacations
• Personal guarantees or sureties signed on behalf of the business

Closing a business involves several steps: ceasing operations, paying remaining debts and obligations, terminating contracts and legal obligations, and filing the required documents with authorities. This ensures the business is closed in an orderly manner.

Filing for business bankruptcy involves submitting an official procedure with a Licensed Insolvency Trustee. The trustee evaluates the situation, protects the business from creditors, and organizes liquidation or restructuring as needed.

Yes. Even after bankruptcy, it is possible to create and manage a new business. Some restrictions may apply depending on your role in the previous company, but bankruptcy does not prevent you from starting over.