Court Confirms Receiver's Authority To Assign A Contract

Prior to December 23, 2020, it had been unclear whether a court had the jurisdiction to grant an order assigning a contract without counterparty consent, on application by a court-appointed receiver (a "Receiver"). In a helpful decision - Urbancorp, 2020 ONSC 7920 ("Urbancorp"), Chief Justice Morawetz continued the trend in Canadian jurisprudence of interpreting the Canadian insolvency regimes harmoniously using a purposive approach to statutory interpretation, he found that a Receiver, just like a bankruptcy trustee or a debtor in proceedings under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act ("CCAA"), has the power to apply for an order assigning contracts of the debtor and the court has jurisdiction to grant the order.