Commercial Fishing Licences: Chargeable Intangible Property

A recent decision released by the Supreme Court of Canada (the "SCC"), Saulnier v. Royal Bank of Canada, 2008 SCC 58 (S.C.C.), revisited an important question to lenders and creditors: whether a commercial fishing licence constitutes personal property chargeable by a general security agreement and property available to a trustee in bankruptcy. The SCC answered both these questions in the affirmative, finding that the definition of property in the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (the "BIA") should be construed to include a licence granted pursuant to section 7(1) of the Fisheries Act and that this same licence falls within the scope of the definition of 'personal property' for the purposes of the Nova Scotia Personal Property Security Act (the "PPSA").