SmartONE: the buyer is the company that made the hardware

"If SmartONE goes out of business, there will be no one to control and maintain its proprietary software and its equipment. It has installed equipment in more than 20,000 residential units. People could lose control of their door locks in a worst-case scenario." Justice Frederick L. Myers wrote that on December 11, 2025, in reasons for appointing a receiver over SmartONE Solutions Inc. on a few hours' notice. The company's payroll provider needed funds by 11:00 a.m. the next morning, and the company's Scotiabank account manager had advised that SmartONE was still about $100,000 over its credit limit, per the Endorsement of Myers J., Dec. 11, 2025, paras. 19–21.

SmartONE sells condominium developers the in-suite systems that run door locks, HVAC controls and the like, and then services them after residents move in. Its partner was Bell Canada. Under a 2020 collaboration agreement the two companies pitched developers a package in which Bell wired buildings for its internet service and for SmartONE's products, and Bell paid SmartONE "commission payments" at project milestones, subject to clawback; SmartONE gave Bell a general security agreement over all its personal property. Justice Myers noted that as much as $16 million had been paid on projects not yet completed, per the Endorsement of Myers J., Dec. 11, 2025, paras. 4–6 and the Second Report of the Receiver, Sept. 10, 2026, paras. 12–14. As of the filing date, approximately 14,954 occupied units in approximately 87 buildings relied on SmartONE's systems and services, and approximately 59,613 more were awaiting installation or partway through it.

On September 10, 2026, PricewaterhouseCoopers Inc., as receiver, reported that it has a buyer.

December

The receivership began as a fight about good faith, and Justice Myers recorded both sides of it. Bell had given notice of default and served notice of intention to enforce its security on October 3, 2025, then advanced $2 million under forbearance terms and later just over $800,000 restricted to priority projects. PwC, monitoring for Bell, reported that about $65,000 went to projects that were not priorities, and that the Bank of Nova Scotia swept approximately $200,000 of Bell's advance against SmartONE's operating line. SmartONE had not told Bell that the bank had cut its credit limit. It did not obtain the $2 million of independent financing the forbearance required by November 21, per the Endorsement of Myers J., Dec. 11, 2025, paras. 10–18.

Ted Maulucci, SmartONE's co-founder and president, appeared for the company and asked for an adjournment to retain counsel. He told the court that sales fell as Ontario's condominium market collapsed, that the company had inadequate financial reporting systems and had restated its statements, and that when he asked Bell for $2 million, a partner of five years answered with harsh forbearance terms. He said Bell had told developers and suppliers that SmartONE was in default, in breach of confidentiality, to get out of its contracts in bad faith; he denied that the advances were loans; and he said SmartONE had investors lined up, possibly including an American investor ready to deliver a notice of intent the following week, per the Endorsement of Myers J., Dec. 11, 2025, paras. 25–32.

Justice Myers refused the adjournment. "Sadly, Mr. Maulucci has waited too long to act." By hiding its banking problems from Bell, the court found, SmartONE had let Bell advance money to cure delays "only to see those funds swept by the bank"; if Bell had wronged SmartONE, the company could sue, but a damages award years from now would not meet payroll the next morning. He compared the appointment to automotive receiverships in which manufacturers put their parts suppliers into receivership at their own cost: "It is not so much about recovering secured indebtedness as it is about managing the going concern to try to find a soft landing," per the Endorsement of Myers J., Dec. 11, 2025, paras. 33–34, 39, 43.

One more fact from that endorsement matters now. SmartONE sourced most of its equipment from a single supplier, which it owed some $1.6 million. "The supplier is a shareholder in SmartONE and has been cooperative," Justice Myers wrote, but it would no longer sell without prepayment, per the Endorsement of Myers J., Dec. 11, 2025, para. 23. The supplier is Commax.

Nine months on Bell's money

Bell funds the receivership two ways. Receiver's borrowings, approved at $4.4 million and raised to $6.55 million in May, pay overhead and the costs of the proceeding and rank ahead of everything except the receiver's charge; $5,550,000 had been drawn by August 14. A separate funding agreement pays only for equipment on 21 "Bell Escalated Projects" that were behind schedule or near first occupancy, and is not secured by the borrowings charge. Fourteen of the 21 are finished; completing all of them would add 3,070 units and 27 buildings, and an estimated $30,700 a month in fees, per the Second Report of the Receiver, Sept. 10, 2026, paras. 21–22, 35–37, 45.

Developers outside that list have fared differently. The receiver counts approximately 46 other active projects with no Bell funding behind them. Where a developer wanted to pay for its own installation, the receiver priced the work; two such arrangements have been signed. With eight developers it signed mutual releases ending SmartONE's obligations, per the Second Report of the Receiver, Sept. 10, 2026, paras. 38–41.

From May 9 to August 14 the receiver took in approximately $2.3 million — $1.6 million of it Bell's borrowings, approximately $560,000 in recurring service payments from existing buildings — and paid out approximately $2.9 million, including $1.22 million for payroll and benefits, $800,000 for the fees of the receiver and its counsel, and $83,000 in retention payments. Cash fell from approximately $2.4 million to $1.83 million, per the Second Report of the Receiver, Sept. 10, 2026, paras. 44, 46.