| Abstract: | In Canada, the law is now clear that directors and officers do not owe a fiduciary duty to creditors at the point of insolvency pursuant to corporate and insolvency laws. The Supreme Court of Canada in Peoples Department Stores Inc. v. Wise ruled that the duty of directors and officers under the Canada Business Corporations Act (CBCA) does not change when the corporation is in financial distress and that directors and officers owe their fiduciary duties solely to the corporation at all times. 1 The judgment, which is likely to be the only declaration of Canada's highest court on this issue for some time, leaves a number of unanswered questions for directors and those advising directors of the extent of their obligations both in and outside of insolvency. The Court did find that directors owe a duty of care to creditors, but no fiduciary obligation. The judgment changed the standard of assessment of the duty of care to a purely objective test; enshrined the business judgment rule in Canada; may have provided greater access to the oppression remedy for creditors; and provided direction on the meaning of ‘privy’ with respect to reviewable transactions under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (BIA). 2 These issues are canvassed in this brief case comment. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. 1 Peoples Department Stores Inc. v. Wise 2004 SCC 68; Canada Business Corporations Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. C‐44, as amended (CBCA). 2 Canada Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. B‐3, as amended (BIA). |
