Dynamic Restoration: the proposal that waits on the tax returns

The requirements to pay went to Dynamic Restoration Ltd., to certain of its customers and to its financial institutions. The Canada Revenue Agency issued them for arrears of payroll source deductions, and they had the effect of garnishing the company's accounts receivable and freezing its bank accounts, which "had a significant adverse effect on the Company's ability to continue operating in the normal course," per the Trustee's First Report, Sept. 11, 2026, para. 3. The company has no operating line of credit with either of the institutions it banks with, BMO and East Coast Credit Union, so its liquidity, in the trustee's words, "is dependent on the timely collection of accounts receivable and the careful management of weekly disbursements," per the Trustee's First Report, Sept. 11, 2026, para. 36.

Based in Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia, Dynamic Restoration specializes in concrete construction and restoration, building rehabilitation, excavation, waterproofing and site servicing throughout the province and Atlantic Canada, taking work both as a general contractor and as a subcontractor on commercial, institutional, industrial, infrastructure and agricultural projects. Its internal, unaudited profit and loss report for August 1, 2024 to August 1, 2025 shows revenue of $1,936,078, a gross margin of 25.0% and net operating income of $122,967, per the Trustee's First Report, Sept. 11, 2026, paras. 1, 20.

On August 18, 2026 the company filed a notice of intention to make a proposal under s. 50.4(1) of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, with MNP Ltd. of Halifax consenting to act as trustee. Christopher Miller signed the notice for the company, and the minutes of the directors' meeting that authorized the filing, which he chaired, record his declaration that the company "was in financial difficulty and was no longer able to meet its obligations as they became due," per the Creditors Package, Aug. 18, 2026, p. 2 and the Trustee's First Report, Sept. 11, 2026, App. C. The Official Receiver's certificate issued at 2:34 that afternoon in estate no. 51-3411751, and the matter sits in the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia in Bankruptcy and Insolvency, with an automatic stay that runs to September 17, 2026. MNP's first report is signed by Seamus Boyle, vice-president, per the Trustee's First Report, Sept. 11, 2026, paras. 4–6, p. 16 and App. A.

A payroll account from 2023

The company's account of how it got here is short, and MNP relays it as the company's. Dynamic Restoration told the trustee that it "had inadequate bookkeeping support and experienced reconciliation issues with its 2023 payroll account." Those issues, it says, contributed to significant CRA assessments and to accumulating penalties and interest; its efforts to deal with the assessments put significant pressure on its cash flows, and its payments toward the arrears "were not made to the satisfaction of CRA," which led to the enforcement steps, per the Trustee's First Report, Sept. 11, 2026, para. 2.

Since the filing, according to the report, the company has kept operating in the normal course, taken steps on its outstanding GST/HST, corporate tax and payroll returns, engaged legal counsel for its restructuring and asked for proposals from "qualified external bookkeeping professionals." MNP helped it source the lawyers and assisted with the bookkeeping request, and has been in touch with CRA, the company's customers and its financial institutions about cancelling the requirements to pay, per the Trustee's First Report, Sept. 11, 2026, paras. 18–19. The report does not name the company's counsel.

What the Crown has claimed

CRA's proof of claim, dated August 25, is for $1,510,559.97, and it divides three ways. The largest part, $747,484.77 ($550,409.77 in principal and $197,075.00 in penalty and interest), is claimed under s. 60(1.1) of the BIA, the provision under which a court may not approve a proposal that does not pay such source-deduction arrears in full within six months of approval. The unsecured balance of $763,075.20 is $386,784.22 in payroll deductions for 2025 and 2026, which CRA labels "non deemed trust," and $376,290.98 in GST/HST for periods from May 31, 2023 to August 31, 2025, per the Trustee's First Report, Sept. 11, 2026, App. E, Sched. A. The claim also records three payments against the payroll arrears in the three months before the filing: $3,133.75 on June 23, 2026 and $103,165.72 and $8,527.10 on July 8, 2026.

The trustee expects the priority figure to rise. CRA told MNP that it filed the 2025 and 2026 source deductions as unsecured because the company has not yet filed those returns and CRA has not validated them, and the trustee writes that "once the Company completes these returns, we expect that the priority claim under section 60 (1.1) will increase," per the Trustee's First Report, Sept. 11, 2026, paras. 29–30. A CRA letter attached to the claim lists what it has not received: the T2 corporate return for the tax year ending in February 2025, the T4 information return for 2025, and GST/HST returns for nine reporting periods, from the one ending May 31, 2024 to the one ending May 31, 2026. Until they are received and processed, CRA writes, "credits may be unavailable for set-off or refund," per the Trustee's First Report, Sept. 11, 2026, App. E, attachment p. 4.

Trucks, ready-mix and a lien registered during the stay

The list of creditors attached to the notice of intention totals $1,032,278.00, of which $852,987.00 is scheduled to CRA. The trade creditors on it are led by OSCO/Bedford Ready Mix Ltd. at $64,436.00, Casey Concrete at $27,117.00, Kent at $25,207.00, Metcon Excavation & Construction Inc. at $16,416.00, Arrow Construction at $12,960.00 and Cooper Equipment at $11,714.00. Fifteen further entries are listed at $250.00 each, eight of them for Jim Pattison Industries Ltd. and the rest for East Coast Credit Union, RBC, BMO, the Municipality of East Hants and the Workers Compensation Board of Nova Scotia, per the Creditors Package, Aug. 18, 2026, pp. 3–5.

The Personal Property Registry search attached to the report shows four secured parties. East Coast Credit Union Limited holds a general security agreement over all present and after-acquired personal property. Jim Pattison Industries Ltd. has specific charges on eight vehicles (four GMC Sierras, a GMC Yukon and three 2026 RAM 2500s), while National Bank Equipment Finance Inc. is registered against a 2007 Volvo dump truck and Royal Bank of Canada against a 2020 Ford F550. MNP has not obtained an independent legal opinion on any of the security, and the report does not state what any secured party is owed, per the Trustee's First Report, Sept. 11, 2026, para. 28 and App. D.