On January 21, 2026, the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador placed Innovative Capital Investments Inc. and Dominion Trading Limited into receivership, appointing Ernst & Young Inc. as receiver and manager over all of the companies’ assets, undertakings, and properties, excluding certain assets subject to a transaction approved in the companies’ previous CCAA proceedings. The receivership was granted on application by Bank of Montreal under subsection 243(1) of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, following the expiry of the CCAA stay and continued defaults under BMO’s secured lending facilities.
Innovative Capital Investments Inc. and Dominion Trading Limited operated a commercial fishing enterprise with assets that included offshore fishing vessels, fishing gear, and federally regulated fishing licences. The companies obtained CCAA protection on February 11, 2025, then listing over $16 million in liabilities, including $15.7 million to BMO.
During the CCAA proceedings, the Court approved a sale and investment solicitation process that divided the assets into three lots, consisting of the fishing vessel R.S. Journey, fishing gear, and the offshore halibut and Greenland halibut licence NL-013, while excluding other licences, vessels, and contractual rights.
The sales of the vessel and fishing gear closed in April 2025 for $2.75 million, with proceeds held by Doane Grant Thornton as monitor after partial payment of CCAA professional costs. The proposed transaction for the fishing licence was approved in June 2025 but remained conditional on approval from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans as of January 2026.
As of January 6, 2026, ICII was indebted to Bank of Montreal in the principal amount of approximately $17 million, plus unpaid professional fees and accruing interest. The CCAA stay of proceedings had been extended several times and was scheduled to expire on January 30, 2026. With the principal asset sales completed or stalled and no restructuring plan before the court, BMO sought leave to enforce its security through a receivership.
Under the receivership order, the receiver is authorized to administer and realize on all remaining assets, except those tied to the proposed licence transaction approved during the CCAA process. The monitor was directed to retain limited authority to execute documents solely for the purpose of completing that transaction, if regulatory approval is obtained.
Ernst & Young is the receiver. Counsel is BOYNECLARKE for BMO, O’Keefe & Sullivan for the companies and Stewart McKelvey for the monitor.
