It has been more than three months since Laurentian University finalized the sale of campus properties to the province of Ontario for $53.5 million to fund payouts to its creditors, but there’s currently no official word on when payments will be distributed.
The university’s 2022 plan of arrangement stemming from its insolvency states that the creditors’ pool needed to be funded no later than the third anniversary of the plan’s implementation date (Nov. 28, 2025).
And Laurentian has done that, announcing on Aug. 28 that the sale of campus properties to fund the creditors’ pool had been completed.
Sudbury.com recently reached out to Laurentian for an update. We were advised to contact Sharon Hamilton of the firm Ernst & Young instead, the court-appointed monitor assigned to the university’s insolvency proceedings, as they’re in charge of the creditors’ pool.
However, we’ve now twice attempted to contact Hamilton by email since late November, and have not heard back from her.
We were able to speak to Laurentian president Lynn Wells about the matter at a Dec. 2 Giving Tuesday bursary announcement at the university, who said the matter is now in the hands of the monitor.
“Laurentian has fulfilled its responsibilities by selling property and fully funding the creditors’ pool, which we have done at the level of $53.5 million,” said Wells.
“Now the distribution of those funds will be done by the court-appointed monitor through Ernst & Young. That is on her timeline, so any inquiries really should be directed to the monitor.”
In terms of the creditors, which include former Laurentian employees, who have been waiting for their money for nearly five years (LU declared insolvency Feb. 1, 2021), Wells said she understands the situation is frustrating.
“That's why we worked very hard at Laurentian to fulfill our obligation as early as possible, and in fact, ahead of deadline to get the distribution pool funded,” she said.
“Now we have to wait for the court-appointed monitor to go through their process, which is, I'm sure, a very elaborate one, to make sure that these funds are distributed.”
Laurentian University Faculty Association (LUFA) president Fabrice Colin said he hasn’t had recent contact with the monitor.
As of September, though, the union was expecting payments to be issued by the end of 2025 or early 2026.
Colin shared with us an early September memo sent to LUFA members, which stated there were a number of steps that still had to be completed.
That includes finalizing certain claims matters, submitting amounts to Service Canada for approval (this review was expected to take up to four months), and an evaluation of the tax treatment of the payments.
LUFA said in September that the monitor has confirmed that one lump-sum payment per employee will be issued, rather than multiple smaller cheques.
Tom Fenske, president of the Laurentian University Staff Union (LUSU), also spoke to us about the matter at the recent Giving Tuesday event, and said he’s “not quite sure what the holdup is.”
With creditors only set to get about 24 per cent of what they’re owed, “it just adds insult to injury,” he said.
“Right now, the money is with them (the monitor), it’s been with them, since, I believe, August,” Fenske said. “The creditors have waited long enough — four, now going on five years. This is too long, and so it should be a priority.”
Heidi Ulrichsen is Sudbury.com’s assistant editor. She also covers education and the arts scene.