Thunder Bay, Ont. business left in limbo after Hudson's Bay creditor protection filing

Rajpreet Sahota · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 17, 2025 8:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

An Indigenous-led concern successful Thunder Bay, Ont. faces a important fiscal deed aft Hudson's Bay Company entered creditor extortion past week. 

Hudson's Bay is delaying payments to astir 2,000 secured and unsecured creditors arsenic it struggles with astir $1 cardinal successful debt.

Jason Thompson, proprietor of Superior Strategies Inc., says helium is owed much than $80,000 by the 400-year-old Canadian retailer aft supplying thermal printer rolls done his Warrior Office division. He was told aggregate times that outgo was forthcoming, but helium present faces uncertainty arsenic the institution undergoes court-supervised restructuring.

The fiscal strain has been immense for the Indigenous-owned business, which fronted $55,000 successful supplier costs to fulfill the order. Thompson says helium initially saw the woody arsenic an accidental for growth, particularly fixed the timing of Hudson's Bay's archetypal outreach connected Sept. 30, 2023—National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

"I was assuming Hudson's Bay was doing immoderate bully things astir reconciliation," helium told CBC. "Being a smaller business, I [saw] this arsenic an accidental to grow."

However, what started arsenic a promising concern has present turned into a fiscal headache. Thompson negotiated a 90-day outgo term, reduced from Hudson's Bay's archetypal petition of 120 days. When outgo failed to get astatine the extremity of January 2024, helium began reaching retired to the company.

His inquiries were initially met with responses, including nonstop connection with Hudson's Bay CEO Liz Rodbell. A concern section typical assured him a outgo program was successful place, with installments opening successful April. However, successful the weeks starring up to March 7, erstwhile the archetypal outgo was expected, connection from Hudson's Bay went silent.

Then, past week, the institution announced it had filed for creditor extortion nether the Companies Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA), freezing payments to suppliers portion it seeks fiscal restructuring. The retailer, which owes millions to vendors and landlords, admitted successful tribunal filings that it has fallen down connected payments and whitethorn adjacent up to fractional of its 80 stores.

Under the CCAA process, companies tin restructure their debts, often leaving unsecured creditors—like tiny businesses—receiving lone a fraction of what they are owed. Some experts estimation suppliers successful retail insolvencies whitethorn person little than 20 cents connected the dollar if thing astatine all.

Rodbell explained the company's determination to record for creditor extortion successful a institution statement.

"Earlier this year, we worked with imaginable investors to refinance a information of our recognition facilities to amended our liquidity and enactment our concern plan. However, the menace and realization of a commercialized warfare has created important marketplace uncertainty and has impacted our quality to implicit these transactions," she said.

In a connection to CBC, Hudson's Bay said it was a hard but indispensable determination to question creditor protection.

"As portion of the CCAA process, payments to creditors including vendors are stayed astatine this time," wrote Tiffany Bourré, the company's vice president of firm communications. "The institution is exploring strategical alternatives and engaging stakeholders to research imaginable solutions to sphere and restructure its business."

During the 17th to 19th century, the Hudson's Bay Company relied heavy connected Indigenous peoples for fur trading, starring to economical dependence, disruption of accepted ways of life, and the displacement of galore communities. Later, the institution said they are committed to reconciliation and radical equity, including a $30 cardinal committedness implicit 10 years to enactment Indigenous communities and code the impacts of the Indian residential schoolhouse system.

But now, Thompson says the acquisition has made him question firm commitments to Indigenous economical reconciliation. With Indigenous vendors near successful fiscal limbo, helium wonders what that committedness genuinely means.

"The horrors and atrocities and the trials and tribulations for america Indigenous radical are good documented. Yet, this is however [they're] going to proceed to proceed without adjacent entering into immoderate dialog with us," said Thompson.

"Hudson Bay Company's been astir for specified a agelong clip and it's a large portion of the past of Canada. So I'm hoping that determination volition beryllium an disposable program of immoderate sort. But I truly anticipation that the absorption is connected ensuring that the tiny companies are looked after," helium said.