Annual Banking Report 2021

April 21, 2021

Deadline: May 31, 2021

Pursuant to Directive No. 5R6, Estate Funds and Banking, Licensed Insolvency Trustees (LIT) and Consumer Proposal Administrators, per corporate entity or sole practitioner licence, are required to submit a Schedule 1 “Request for Bank Confirmation” and a Schedule 2 “Annual Banking Report” (ABR) to the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy (OSB) no later than May 31, 2021.

For the past ten years, LIT firms have had the option to submit their ABR on paper or electronically. During each annual campaign reminder, the OSB strongly encouraged LIT firms to adopt the electronic method to benefit from efficiencies and improved data integrity. By 2019, the vast majority of firms had switched to electronic, such that banking information for 98% of estates reported that year was submitted electronically.

Last year, in its ABR 2020 notice, the OSB informed LIT firms that starting in 2021, electronic ABR submissions would be mandatory. In effect, the OSB had provided one year’s notice to comply.

Now that ABR 2021 has arrived, ABRs must be submitted electronically. If you encounter any difficulty with your electronic submission, please seek support from your third party insolvency provider’s help line or from your OSB Regional ABR Coordinator (listed below).

General Instructions

  1. Beginning May 01st, ABRs are submitted by corporate LIT firms and by sole practitioners.
  2. If the corporate LIT firm is active in more than one OSB Region (West, Ontario, East), submit an ABR for each Region and include open inventory for individual LITs with open inventory in the applicable Region.
  3. Banking information must be included for all estates open as of April 30, 2021.
  4. Include estates open as of April 30, 2021 having $0 balance, including joint estates.
  5. Include estates closed as of April 30, 2021 having a balance either greater than or less than $0.
  6. Exclude estates closed as of April 30, 2021 having a $0 balance (even if they remain associated to a trust account).
  7. If the financial institution has changed and the former financial institution’s account(s) remain open as of April 30, ensure related estate(s) are only included once in the ABR. This may be accomplished by only providing banking information from the financial institution holding the associated trust funds as of April 30, 2021.

Instructions for Electronic Submission

  1. Ensure third-party insolvency software is up-to-date.
  2. Within the ABR feature of your insolvency software, build an ABR draft in accordance with the General Instructions noted above (to avoid the ABR being rejected and having to re-submit).
  3. Review your draft submission to ensure it adheres to the General Instructions.
  4. When ready, generate an ABR (XML) data file via your third-party insolvency software and save it to a local or network drive.
  5. Log in to OSB’s E-Filing System with your OSB E-Filing account credentials.
  6. To ensure receipt of an electronic ABR receipt confirmation message from the E-filing system, ensure your e-mail address is up to date in your E-Filing System user account profile. If you experience trouble updating your e-mail address, seek support from your Regional ABR Coordinator.
  7. Upload the ABR data file you saved earlier (Step 4) to OSB’s E-Filing System.
  8. Record the reference number provided by OSB’s E-Filing System.
  9. Print a Request for Bank Confirmation (Schedule 1) blank form, one for each bank branch where you have estate trust accounts.
  10. For each Schedule 1, complete Parts 1 and 2 of the form. Ensure you sign Part 1. In Part 2, provide the full address of the bank branch.
  11. For each completed Schedule 1, scan and save it as a PDF file.
  12. For each completed Schedule 1, e-mail the PDF copy and mail the original to your Regional ABR Coordinator.

Please do not hesitate to contact your Regional ABR Coordinator (listed below) if you have any questions in regards to the ABR.

Thank you,

Samra Rabie
Deputy Superintendent, Operations

Regional ABR Coordinators 

Eastern Region

Halifax Division Office
1505 Barrington Street, 16th Floor
Halifax NS B3J 3K5
Attention: Ian Soper
ian.soper@canada.ca

Québec City Division Office
702-1550, d'Estimauville Avenue
Québec QC G1J 0C4
Attention: Johanne Picard
johanne.picard@canada.ca

Montréal Division Office
1155 Metcalfe Street, Suite 950
Montréal QC H3B 2V6
Attention: Melissa Houle
melissa.houle@canada.ca

Ontario Region

Toronto and Hamilton Division Offices
151 Yonge Street, 4th Floor
Toronto ON M5C 2W7
Attention: Raquel McGee
raquel.mcgee@canada.ca

Ottawa and London Division Offices
151 Yonge Street, 4th Floor
Toronto, Ontario M5C 2W7
Attention: Khadeja Elsibai
khadeja.elsibai@canada.ca

Western Region

All Western Region Division Offices
4th floor, 400 St. Mary Avenue
Winnipeg, MB  R3C 4K5
Attention: Calum Rodger
calum.rodger@canada.ca

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