Carrière Sablière Principale Lachute: from Mareva freeze to RBC's receiver

At 1284 route Principale in Lachute, across five lots in the Argenteuil land registry, two companies ran a stone quarry and a sand pit with, in normal times, at least five employees. 9403-2216 Québec Inc., incorporated in 2019, owns the land. Carrière Sablière Principale Lachute Inc., incorporated in 2023 and wholly owned by 9403, operates the quarry, pays 9403 a monthly rent as KPMG understands the arrangement, and sells to construction and excavation customers that include related companies; Kevin Mainville is 9403's sole shareholder. Stone and sand were only part of the business. According to KPMG Inc., "a significant portion of the Debtors' revenue comes from receiving soil, including soil intended for fill" [translation], per the Proposed Receiver's Report, Sept. 9, 2026, paras. 8–11, 34 and the Receivership Application, Sept. 8, 2026, paras. 14–21.

On June 16, 2026, the Superior Court of Québec issued a Mareva and Norwich order with seizure before judgment, ex parte and in camera, in a civil action brought by Valosphère Environnement inc. Sablière's entire sand and stone inventory was seized and the companies lost access to their bank accounts. Royal Bank of Canada, their lender, learned of the order late on June 18, had KPMG appointed interim receiver five days later, and within a week of that appointment KPMG had stopped the quarry. On September 10, 2026, in the commercial division for the District of Terrebonne, file No. 700-11-023321-260, KPMG was appointed receiver under s. 243 of the BIA for a mandate that runs until the property is sold and realized or the court ends it, per the Receivership Application, Sept. 8, 2026, paras. 2–5 and the Receivership Order, Sept. 10, 2026, para. 7.

A bank already on its way out

RBC's lending ran through a sister company as well as through the quarry. Under a credit agreement of August 30, 2024, it made available to Excavation National inc. — an excavation, civil engineering and urban development company of which Mr. Mainville is sole director, officer and ultimate beneficiary — a $10,000,000 revolving demand facility, a $1,000,000 leasing line and a $150,000 credit card facility. Under a second agreement of September 4, 2024, it lent 9403 two term loans, of $3,150,000 and $3,000,000. Sablière guaranteed everything Excavation and 9403 owed the bank, up to $35,000,000 per borrower plus interest at prime plus 5%, and 9403 guaranteed Excavation to the same ceiling. Each debtor hypothecated all its movable property for $35,000,000 plus 15%, and 9403 hypothecated the quarry lands for $7,000,000 plus 15%, per the Receivership Application, Sept. 8, 2026, paras. 18, 23–29.

On June 23, 2025, the bank told Excavation, 9403, Sablière and Mr. Mainville that it intended to end the relationship and demanded repayment by September 22, 2025, leaving the term loans in place while 9403 stayed current. On or about September 4, 2025, Excavation and 9403 engaged KPMG to review the financial position of Excavation and the two debtors, and an extension letter moved the repayment date to November 14. The debtors waived the ten-day period after s. 244 notices of October 23 and December 3, 2025, and in a support and forbearance agreement concluded December 4 acknowledged the debt, the bank's security and the defaults. Forbearance expired on March 31, 2026. Excavation had filed a notice of intention on December 9, 2025; it went into receivership on June 8, 2026, with KPMG as receiver, and made an assignment in bankruptcy on June 22, per the Receivership Application, Sept. 8, 2026, paras. 31–39, 42 and the Proposed Interim Receiver's Report, June 23, 2026, para. 20.

Several of the defaults the bank lists concern the land itself. 9403 had not remedied, within twelve months of signing its credit agreement, environmental damage identified in Phase 1 and Phase 2 assessments by Groupe SCP Environnement Inc. dated April 2024. It had also received a notice dated October 9, 2025 from the Commission de protection du territoire agricole du Québec (CPTAQ), the province's agricultural land commission, over alleged breaches of s. 26 of the Act respecting the preservation of agricultural land and agricultural activities, and on May 29, 2026 the commission resumed a deliberation it had suspended in February on the strength of undertakings the debtors had given, per the Receivership Application, Sept. 8, 2026, para. 42(a)–(c).

A freeze, under seal

The Mareva order and Valosphère's originating application were filed under seal as exhibits to the bank's first application, and neither is in the record read for this piece. The bank describes the claim in that action as more than $15,000,000, sought solidarily from Excavation and the two debtors, per the Interim Receivership Application, June 22, 2026, paras. 3, 31(h). In July KPMG reported that the Mareva order had been renewed to November 18, 2026 as to entities other than the debtors and Excavation, and that it understood a hearing on the group's challenge would be held only on November 17 and 18, per the Interim Receiver's Report, July 22, 2026, paras. 18, 29.

The bank went first for an interim receiver under s. 47 because of the Civil Code's calendar. It registered its prior notice of a sale under judicial authority on June 29, 2026, and until the 60-day period on 9403's immovable expired, not before August 28, it could not seek a s. 243 receiver over the lands, the debtors' principal asset, per the Extension Application, July 17, 2026, paras. 10–15. Justice Enrico Forlini's order of June 23 appointed KPMG for 30 days, stayed proceedings including the civil action, declared the Mareva order unenforceable against the interim receiver, and granted a $150,000 administration charge and a $300,000 charge securing up to $250,000 of RBC borrowing, per the Interim Receivership Order, June 23, 2026, paras. 7, 9–12, 32, 34, 38. On July 23 the registrar, Me Annick Gagnon, extended the appointment to September 11 after hearing Stéphane De Broux of KPMG; the agricultural land commission and the Attorney General of Québec appeared through counsel, and the debtors were absent and unrepresented, per the Minutes of Hearing, July 23, 2026, pp. 1–3.

What the interim receiver found

KPMG went in on June 23 describing the quarry as an asset valued as a going business and warning that an interruption of operations "would be catastrophic for the creditors and other stakeholders of the Debtors" [translation], per the Proposed Interim Receiver's Report, June 23, 2026, para. 5. Its assessment at appointment, KPMG later explained, rested on financial information from the debtors' representatives showing positive cash flow. Closer analysis found that a significant part of the real cost of operating, salaries and equipment rental, was borne by other companies in the construction group under Mr. Mainville's control, some of which also bought Sablière's products and services, with the accounts settled afterward through intercompany transfers and accounting entries, per the Proposed Receiver's Report, Sept. 9, 2026, paras. 26–28.