Xplore Inc., Canada's largest rural-focused internet service provider, and 12 affiliated companies were granted protection under the CCAA on November 10, 2026, after exhausting available funding and failing to make interest payments on approximately $592 million in outstanding loans. Justice Dunphy of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice (Commercial List) authorized an initial $77 million advance under a $154.5 million debtor-in-possession financing facility backed by Stonepeak and Varde Partners, providing liquidity while the company pursues a recapitalization, refinancing, restructuring or sale of all or portions of its business.
The proceedings follow months of unsuccessful negotiations between Stonepeak, the company's controlling shareholder, and an ad hoc committee of secured lenders over a consensual recapitalization. Xplore missed a US$5.18 million interest payment under its principal credit agreement on October 30 and a further US$821,340 interest payment under a bridge loan on November 4. The Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB) also delivered default notices under the company's project financing facilities on November 4. As of October 31, Xplore owed approximately $542.2 million under its 2024 credit facilities and $49.8 million under its bridge term loan, excluding amounts outstanding under separate CIB financing arrangements.
Founded in 1998, Xplore operates fixed wireless, satellite and fibre broadband networks serving hundreds of thousands of residential and business subscribers in rural and remote communities across Canada. The company employs approximately 1,100 people and has invested approximately $4 billion in developing and expanding its broadband infrastructure. It completed a significant recapitalization in October 2024 that reduced indebtedness, addressed uneconomic satellite contracts and facilitated access to new financing. Since that transaction, the company has obtained approximately $550 million in additional debt and equity financing, substantially all of which has been invested in fibre construction, fixed wireless operations and general business requirements.
According to the affidavit of William Aziz, the company's chief restructuring officer, Xplore's financial position deteriorated as increased competition in its established businesses coincided with escalating capital requirements and construction delays affecting its fibre expansion. Competition from national telecommunications providers and satellite operators offering higher speeds and increasingly competitive pricing has eroded its customer base, which declined 13% year-over-year in the second quarter of 2026. EBITDA remained positive but declined during the year.
The more significant financial pressure arose from the company's fibre construction commitments. Xplore estimates that its projects under Ontario's Accelerated High-Speed Internet Program (AHSIP) and the federal Universal Broadband Fund will require approximately $1.2 billion in aggregate capital expenditures, with the completed networks potentially passing approximately 250,000 serviceable premises. In Ontario, the company is undertaking an approximately $540 million AHSIP project under which most government subsidies become payable only after specified network segments are completed. Delays in obtaining utility permits and preparing poles for fibre installation have postponed construction milestones, subsidy payments and customer revenues. Xplore has spent approximately $360 million on the Ontario project and expects to receive approximately $251 million in subsidies upon completion. The company also cited federal spectrum policies that have restricted its ability to monetize wireless spectrum holdings to generate additional capital.
Efforts to address the liquidity shortfall included an August 4 transaction support agreement with Stonepeak and certain secured lenders aimed at facilitating a consensual recapitalization, together with a $50 million bridge term loan. Stonepeak provided approximately $7.5 million in additional funding on October 2, but the parties were unable to agree on a definitive transaction or sufficient further financing outside a court-supervised process.
The $154.5 million DIP facility comprises a $114.1 million tranche available to Xplore Inc. and a $40.4 million tranche available to Xplore Fibre L.P., with Stonepeak Falcon Holdco LP and Varde Partners acting as backstop parties and existing lenders entitled to participate. Approximately $53.5 million of the initial funding is earmarked to repay the bridge loan in full, with the balance available for operations, professional fees and restructuring expenses. The company is continuing to evaluate potential recapitalization, refinancing and sale transactions, including advanced discussions with third parties regarding certain business segments. The initial stay runs through November 20, with a comeback hearing scheduled for November 19.
FTI is the monitor, while William Aziz of BlueTree Advisors is serving as chief restructuring officer and Perella Weinberg Partners is financial advisor to the company. Counsel includes Goodmans and Paul, Weiss for the applicants, Norton Rose Fulbright for the monitor, Blakes and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett for Stonepeak, Dentons for the Canada Infrastructure Bank, and Bennett Jones for the ad hoc lender committee.
