Trinity Automotive: the monitor asks for bankruptcy powers

Goldhar & Associates Ltd., the monitor of the Trinity Auto Group, asks the court for power, in its discretion, to file assignments in bankruptcy for five of the group's fifteen companies and to act as their trustee, and to keep back $250,000 to fund those bankruptcies, which its Fourth Report says are "anticipated to include examinations of certain former directors, officers or employees," per the Fourth Report of the Monitor, Nov. 7, 2026, paras. 1, 103, 117–118. The motion is returnable on November 12 at 11:00 a.m., by videoconference, per the Notice of Motion, Nov. 7, 2026 (Motion Record, Tab 1), pp. 1–2.

The five, as the report and the monitor's factum list them, are Trinity Car Sales Inc., which ran the London and Mississauga used-car superstores, both now shut and their inventories sold; Trinity Auto Inc., which ran a service and repair business and a towing business; Downtown Auto Centre Ltd., which operated as Downtown Auto Centres and North Star Collision; Trinity Car and Truck Rental Inc., a rental business; and 1000841404 Ontario Inc., which operates the Mississauga Chrysler dealership. The factum says each is a guarantor of the debt owed to Bank of Montreal, that each one's liabilities exceed the fair value of its assets, and that a bankruptcy "provides a ready-made claims process and scheme of distribution," per the Fourth Report of the Monitor, Nov. 7, 2026, paras. 103–115 and the Factum of the Monitor, Nov. 9, 2026, paras. 31–33. The floorplan losses behind this creditor-driven CCAA, the TD transfers and the October 1 removal of the directors were reported here on September 7, September 11 and October 2.

A trustee's powers

The monitor also "believes that the broad investigatory powers provided for under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act provide a further rationale for the relief," and points to the transactions its earlier reports described involving the group's former principal "and the preferential transfer of monies from accounts operated at Toronto-Dominion Bank to the former CFO of the Trinity Auto Group." A trustee's powers, it says, "will aid the Monitor in its further consideration of flows of funds into and out of bank accounts operated by the Non-Viable Companies," as the monitor calls the five. Elsewhere the report describes the $769,659.95 of flagged funds as "misappropriated" by the former principal and the former chief financial officer, and records that the former chief financial officer has returned them, with TD's assistance, at the monitor's request and direction, per the Fourth Report of the Monitor, Nov. 7, 2026, paras. 41–42, 116.

The former chief financial officer's account of the payments, as Justice Black's October 1 endorsement records it, was that they were amounts the companies owed for that officer's services as a consultant or employee, dating back a number of years. The former principal "essentially echoed" that explanation, and Justice Black found it "wanting," per the Endorsement of Justice Black, Oct. 1, 2026, paras. 8, 12.

The draft order is framed more widely. It defines the Non-Viable Companies as each of the debtors "other than the Debtors operating Stratford Kia, Stratford Nissan and Oakville Mitsubishi," and would lift the stay solely so that the monitor could make an assignment for each. Any part of the reserve the monitor finds it does not need would go back "to the general pool of funds to be used for distribution in these CCAA Proceedings," per the draft Second Omnibus Order (Motion Record, Nov. 7, 2026, Tab 5), paras. 7, 9.

"Not acceptable to Stellantis"

Expressions of interest under the sale process were due on October 9, and the report says no acceptable one was received for the dealership assets of Mississauga Chrysler. The monitor and its counsel met Stellantis and its counsel to review the ones that attributed value to the dealership, and Stellantis advised that the prospective purchasers behind them "were not acceptable to Stellantis for purposes of obtaining the necessary dealership franchise approval." After consulting the sales agent, BDO, and BMO as interim lender, the monitor ended the sale process for the dealership operations, and the wind-down began on October 23 with the termination of non-essential employees, per the Fourth Report of the Monitor, Nov. 7, 2026, paras. 58, 65–68. The monitor asks for authority to wind down and liquidate the businesses operating as Mississauga Chrysler, Trinity Auto Inc., Trinity Car and Truck Rental and Downtown Auto Centre without a further order and without the disposition limits of the second amended and restated initial order, which the factum gives as $250,000 in any one transaction and $1,000,000 in the aggregate, per the Fourth Report of the Monitor, Nov. 7, 2026, para. 9(g)(i)(II) and the Factum of the Monitor, Nov. 9, 2026, para. 27.

Two expressions of interest had come in for the real property, which belongs to another member of the group, 1001087905 Ontario Inc. The monitor ran a separate, expedited process for it with those two bidders: a real-estate-only agreement went to them on October 20, binding bids were due October 30, and both bids that arrived were determined to be Qualified Bids. On November 2 the monitor designated the bid of 1001805320 Ontario Inc. as the Successful Bid, having determined that it "represented the highest and best offer received," per the Fourth Report of the Monitor, Nov. 7, 2026, paras. 65, 68–70, 72. The other bid was selected as the backup bid, per the Notice of Motion, Nov. 7, 2026 (Motion Record, Tab 1), grounds para. 10.

The agreement, dated as of November 6, names 1001805320 Ontario Inc. as purchaser and S.N.A. Management Inc. as beneficial owner. It conveys the lands and buildings at 2260 Battleford Road, Mississauga, with their fixtures, chattels and equipment, excluding the dealership tenant's vehicles, parts and other inventory; it takes none of the dealership's goodwill or franchise rights. The property is sold "as is, where is," and the purchaser assumes environmental conditions and liabilities after closing, per the Fourth Report of the Monitor, Nov. 7, 2026, paras. 73–78. Vacant possession is to be delivered on closing, targeted for the 21st day after the approval and vesting order is issued and in any event by an outside date of December 20, 2026, which the parties may extend with the consent of the monitor and BMO, per the Fourth Report of the Monitor, Nov. 7, 2026, App. "A", s. 1.1 ("Outside Date", "Target Closing Date"), s. 7.4.

The price is a blank in the public copy of the agreement. The unredacted agreement and the details of both bids are in a confidential supplement, which the monitor asks the court to seal until the CCAA proceedings end or the court orders otherwise; if the sale does not close, the factum says, disclosure "would impair the Monitor's ability to re-market the Mississauga Chrysler Property and maximize value." The deposit, 10% of the price, is held by the purchaser's counsel for transfer to the monitor before the hearing, the report says, per the Fourth Report of the Monitor, Nov. 7, 2026, paras. 9(g)(i)(VIII), 71, 76 and App. "A", s. 3.1 and the Factum of the Monitor, Nov. 9, 2026, para. 48.

The draft vesting order would direct the land registrar to delete from title a $16,170,000 charge in favour of Bank of Montreal registered on April 1, 2025, and would have the net proceeds stand in the place of the property with the same priority, per the draft Sale Approval and Vesting Order (Motion Record, Nov. 7, 2026, Tab 3), paras. 4–6 and Sch. "C". The purchaser's due diligence period was to expire before the hearing; the monitor's counsel, the report says, will advise the court if the condition is not satisfied or waived, per the Fourth Report of the Monitor, Nov. 7, 2026, para. 79.