B+H Architects Files for CCAA Protection to Restructure After Arbitration Award and Liquidity Pressures

The Ontario Superior Court of Justice (Commercial List) granted B+H Architects Corp. protection under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act on October 17 2025, appointing Grant Thornton Limited as Monitor and approving interim relief to preserve cash flow and maintain ongoing projects. Justice Black issued the order following an application by the company amid mounting liquidity constraints and enforcement threats stemming from an adverse arbitral award.

Founded in 1953, B+H Architects is an international design and architecture firm headquartered in Toronto, employing hundreds of staff across offices in Canada, the United States, Asia, and the Middle East. The company has designed major institutional, commercial, and health-care projects and operates through a network of subsidiaries providing integrated planning, interiors, and sustainability services.

Court filings attribute B+H’s financial distress primarily to a $25 million arbitral award issued in the UAE in favour of Al Sadiyaat Development & Investment Sole Proprietorship Company LLC, which hired B+H to supply architectural services in relation to a project in the UAE. B+H’s financial performance has also suffered in recent years due to challenges in the post-COVID private real estate and construction market and other factors that have led to a slowdown in new builds and customer/client payment constraints.

The CCAA proceedings are intended to stabilize the business while the company pursues a recapitalization or sale transaction, with shareholder Surbana Jurong Holdings (Canada) Ltd. providing a DIP loan and acting as stalking horse bidder.

KSV Restructuring Inc. is the monitor, represented by Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP. Counsel is McCarthy Tétrault LLP for B+H, Norton Rose Fulbright LLP for Jurong Holdings (Canada) Ltd.