The Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act (commonly referred to as the "CCAA" or the "CC, double A") is a Federal Act that allows financially troubled corporations the opportunity to restructure their affairs. By allowing the company to restructure its financial affairs, through a formal Plan of Arrangement, the CCAA presents an opportunity for the company to avoid bankruptcy and allows the creditors to receive some form of payment for amounts owing to them by the company.
The Plan of Arrangement is the proposal that the company is presenting to its creditors on how it intends to deal with debt it owes at the time of the initial filing with the Court. There are no restrictions on what the Plan can entail. It is not uncommon to see offers to pay a percentage on the dollar of debt, either as a lump sum or over a period of time. Plans can include an offer of shares of the company in exchange for the debt outstanding or a combination of cash and shares. The debtor can identify a particular creditor or group of creditors as "unaffected." Unaffected creditors are included in the Plan and are not to be paid in the normal course. One of the benefits of the CCAA is that it allows for this flexibility when trying to put together a Plan.
Ultimately, the company files its Plan of Arrangement and forwards it to the creditors/shareholders. A meeting of the creditors (and shareholders, if applicable) is called to vote on the Plan. For the Plan to be binding on each class of creditors, a majority of the proven creditors in that class, by number, together with 2/3 of the proven creditors in that class, by dollar value, must approve of the Plan presented to them. If a class of creditors approves the Plan, it is binding on all creditors within the class, subject to the Court's approval of the Plan. If all of the classes of creditors (and shareholders, if applicable) approve the Plan, the Court must then approve the Plan as a final step. Upon Court approval, the company continues forward as outlined under the Plan until it has satisfied the requirements under the Plan.
If a class of creditors or the Court does not approve the Plan, the company does not automatically go into bankruptcy, but the Stay is lifted. However, once the Stay has been lifted, the pressures that caused the company to initially file for CCAA protection from its creditors will likely return and, accordingly, it is quite likely that the company will be placed into receivership or bankruptcy.