Grant Thornton Appointed OTS Liquidator

The Ontario Superior Court of Justice has appointed Grant Thornton LLP., one of Canada’s leading accounting and advisory firms, liquidator of Ontario Tire Stewardship (OTS). The appointment was made on March 16, 2020 and is effective immediately.

The appointment of a liquidator is part of the process established to wind up a waste diversion program and the industry funding organization responsible for operating it under the Waste Diversion Transition Act, 2016, the Minister’s directions and the Authority’s Wind-Up Guide.

The liquidation team at Grant Thornton is being led by Jonathan Krieger, a partner in Grant Thornton’s Toronto office, with more than 20 years of experience in recovery and reorganization, and related consulting services.

As liquidator, Grant Thornton will act as OTS’ agent and be responsible for implementing the remaining provisions of the approved OTS Wind-Up Plan.

The liquidator will also be submitting an amended Wind-Up Plan to the Authority for approval consistent with the Minister’s April 2019 direction on surplus funds, once outstanding Canada Revenue Agency matters are resolved. The Authority will be consulting stakeholders on the proposed amended Wind-Up Plan once it is received.

Following fulfillment of the approved Wind-Up Plan, including any amended plans, the liquidator will take the necessary steps to dissolve OTS as a corporate entity.

The liquidator will take over all decision-making from the OTS Administrator, who had been appointed by the Authority to ensure effective governance of OTS during the wind up until now. All remaining OTS staff will be released by the end of March. The Authority thanks OTS staff and the Administrator, Bruce Campbell, who have worked diligently and effectively to ensure the smooth wind up of the Used Tires Program and transition of tire recycling and reuse to Ontario’s new Individual Producer Responsibility regulatory framework outlined in the Tires Regulation under the Resource Productivity and Recovery Act, 2016.

The Authority will continue to monitor and oversee the implementation of the OTS Wind-Up Plan until dissolution of OTS. Learn more about the wind up of the Used Tires Program and OTS.

If you have any questions, please contact communications@rpra.ca.