Canadian courts often have to consider the interplay between federal insolvency laws and provincial property and civil rights laws. This paper outlines the various “points of contact” between federal and provincial laws and what courts have concluded about the co-existence of those laws through an examination of past and current case law. Topics discussed include priorities, the scope of and test for provable claims, claims against third parties, trustee powers, and Charter of Rights and Freedoms cases in insolvency law.

This paper is part of a collection presented at LESA’s 2016 The Constitution in the Insolvency Tool Box program.