Ortino Group: from sale certificates to one auction

When the receiver took over the Ortino companies in May, their books listed approximately 600 pieces of equipment as theirs, largely excavating and landscaping equipment and dump trucks. "At the time the Receivership Order was granted, numerous pieces of the Equipment were missing," the receiver reports, and "To the extent such equipment was located, it appears to have been left by the Companies at various job sites across southern Ontario." Working with the former managers of the companies' yards and Tert & Ross Ltd., a company it retained to help locate the missing machines, the receiver took possession of what it found and returned it to three leased yards, in London, Oshawa and Whitchurch-Stouffville, whose occupancy costs total approximately $25,000 a month, per the First Report of the Receiver, Aug. 4, 2026, s. 1.0, para. 2; s. 2.0, paras. 6–7; s. 6.0, para. 1(i)–(k). The report does not say how many pieces were found, or how many are still missing.

Adriel Ortino Corp. is a holding company that directly or indirectly owns all the shares of the other eight debtors. ADD Equipment Corp. was the entity used to buy, lease or finance most of the machines; Aden Disposal Corp. ran a dump truck and trucking business serving the others; HC & C Contracting Inc., AE3 Excavating Corp. and Shilson Excavation & Trucking Inc. did excavation, backfill and grading across the Greater Toronto Area, AEON Landscaping Corp. and All Seasons Gardening & Maintenance Ltd. did landscaping, and Anthony's Excavating and Grading Ltd. did both. All of them had stopped operating before the receivership began, per the First Report, s. 2.0, para. 1. On August 11, Justice J. Dietrich authorized and approved the receiver's liquidation services agreement with Infinity Asset Solutions. A second order authorizes and directs distributions to Bank of Montreal and declares that the receiver will not incur liability under federal and provincial tax statutes for facilitating them, per the Approval and Vesting Order, Aug. 11, 2026, para. 2 and the Ancillary Order, Aug. 11, 2026, paras. 4, 10.

A year from demand

BMO's loans date from a term sheet of September 11, 2023, under which the nine companies are jointly and severally liable. Each loan is repayable on demand except a treasury risk line governed by an ISDA 2022 Master Agreement between BMO and Adriel Ortino Corp., and each company gave the bank a general security agreement over all of its personal property, per the Amended Notice of Application, amended May 15, 2026, paras. 2(c)–(g). Justice Cavanagh's endorsement, drawing on BMO's affidavit evidence, sets out the defaults: reporting breaches through the latter half of 2024, overdrafts by that December, a breach of the funded debt to EBITA covenant in January 2025, the first CRA and third-party garnishment notices the next month, and by May a failure to deliver audited statements, quarterly statements and a monthly borrowing base certificate, per the Endorsement of Justice Cavanagh, May 21, 2026, paras. 3, 10–13.

BMO demanded repayment of the demand facilities on May 22, 2025. On June 4 it sent Adriel Ortino Corp. a notice of default and early termination, terminating all outstanding transactions under the ISDA agreement as of June 5, and on June 17 it issued this application. In the amended notice the original figures are struck through, $17,411,875.57 on the demand facilities as of May 21, 2025 and $61,586 on the treasury risk line as of June 5, 2025, and one figure stands in their place: $18,498,786.30 owing to BMO as of May 12, 2026, per the Amended Notice of Application, paras. 2(j)–(m), 2(s).

In between, a forbearance agreement of September 4, 2025 adjourned the application, with BMO agreeing to forbear until January 31, 2026, and under a second, dated February 2, 2026, it agreed to forbear until May 31. BMO says it entered both to give the companies time to recover unbilled receivables, among other things, and to sell the equipment. "Ultimately, limited funds were recovered by the Borrowers, and the Borrowers made little to no progress in selling the Equipment," per the Amended Notice of Application, paras. 2(n)–(p). The second agreement required the Ortino family to cover any liquidity shortfall before May 31. On April 30, 2026, BMO notified Mr. Ortino of a $60,000 shortfall; the family did not agree to advance enough to cover it, and the agreement terminated on its terms on May 8, per the Amended Notice of Application, para. 2(q).

The companies were served by email to their principal, Adriel Ortino, fewer than 10 days before the May 21 hearing, and no one appeared to oppose or to ask for an adjournment. Justice Cavanagh was satisfied it was just and convenient to appoint a receiver: "Just under one year has passed since demand was made"; the companies "have ceased all meaningful operations and are no longer booking new business"; BMO's credit documents gave it the right to seek a receiver; and BMO, facing a material shortfall, had given the companies significant time and accommodations and had lost confidence in their ability to pay it down. The balance of convenience, the endorsement concludes, "favours BMO being entitled to realize on its collateral through a court-appointed receivership." The order signed that day appointed KSV Restructuring Inc. as receiver and manager, per the Endorsement of Justice Cavanagh, May 21, 2026, paras. 1–2, 23, 26.

Two banks with their own machines

Several other secured creditors had registered against certain of the companies, some of the registrations predating BMO's, per the Endorsement of Justice Cavanagh, para. 8. The appointment order dealt with two by name. The equipment on its Schedule C, a list that includes John Deere and Hitachi excavators, Bobcat T450s, Case TR320s and Ford and Dodge trucks, is excluded from the receivership property; TD Equipment Finance Canada must account to the receiver for its sale and pay over any excess once TD is repaid in full. National Bank of Canada was given ten days from the receiver's notice to elect to take possession of the equipment on Schedule D, on paying the receiver $1,500 a unit, HST included, plus the costs attributable to it. The order also lets the receiver borrow up to $750,000 under a priority charge, per the Order (Appointing Receiver), May 21, 2026, paras. 21, 32–36. By August 4, National Bank had elected to take its equipment back and had made the required payments, but had taken no steps to repossess it. Wells Fargo holds security on one piece. BMO had funded, on a net basis, $157,450 under the borrowing charge, per the First Report, s. 3.0, paras. 6–7; s. 5.0, para. 1.

The sale power, and the liquidators

BMO came to court in May with a sale mechanism built for one machine at a time. The receiver may sell individual pieces without further order if no sale exceeds $250,000, all such sales together stay within $2,000,000, and anyone the receiver believes is asserting a valid purchase-money security interest in the piece consents; a sale certificate then vests the piece free and clear, with claims attaching to the net proceeds, per the Order (Appointing Receiver), paras. 3(k), 25–26, 28. BMO's factum said the court "has previously pre-approved 'rolling-vesting structures'" of this kind, citing endorsements of Justice Conway in Enlightened Funding Corporation v. Velocity Asset and Credit Corporation (January 19, 2024) and Justice Steele in World Wide Carriers Ltd. (May 21, 2025). BMO was not seeking authority for an en bloc sale "at this time"; the receiver would seek court approval if it determined one would maximize recoveries, per the Factum of the Applicant, May 19, 2026, paras. 20, 43 and n. 52. Separate approval and vesting orders for each sale, Justice Cavanagh wrote, "would impose significant costs and delay that is disproportionate to the anticipated value of individual Eligible Transactions," per the Endorsement of Justice Cavanagh, para. 24.