Ontario Superior Court of Justice Approves CannTrust’s CCAA Plan
In 2019, CannTrust Holdings Inc., a Canadian federally licensed cannabis producer, commenced proceedings under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act to resolve issues related to the suspension of its licences to produce and sell cannabis and the resulting shareholder class actions commenced against the company.
On July 16, 2021, CannTrust announced that its plan of compromise, arrangement and reorganization was sanctioned by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice as part of CannTrust’s restructuring proceedings under the CCAA. Implementation of the CCAA plan is subject to several conditions. However, CannTrust expects the conditions to be satisfied and its plan implemented in the fourth quarter of 2021.
During the CCAA proceedings, CannTrust, its stakeholders and its court-appointed monitor engaged in a mediation process related to the class actions with the former Associate Chief Justice of Ontario. Through this process, CannTrust agreed with Ontario and U.S. class action representative plaintiffs to settle the class action claims against the company. CannTrust also resolved the regulatory deficiencies identified by Health Canada, and its cannabis licences were reinstated in 2020.
Aird & Berlis represented Ernst & Young in its capacity as the court-appointed monitor in the CannTrust CCAA proceedings with a team that included Steven Graff and Jonathan Yantzi (Financial Services).
