Canadian Tobacco's restructuring under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) has been named Insolvency & Restructuring Deal of the Year at the 2026 Canadian Law Awards. McMillan is proud to have represented the Province of Québec on this landmark matter and congratulates its client, co-counsel and all participating parties on their collaboration in one of the most significant insolvency proceedings in Canadian history.
McMillan acted for Québec in the CCAA proceedings of JTI-McDonald Corporation, Imperial Tobacco and Rothmans, Benson & Hedges Inc., together with their respective international parent companies (collectively, the Tobacco Companies.) The three companies, which account for virtually the entire Canadian cigarette market, sought CCAA protection simultaneously in March 2019 to address numerous litigation claims, including Québec's $200+ billion claim for the recovery of healthcare costs linked to tobacco-related harm. The aggregate settlement ultimately achieved was $32.5 billion, of which Québec will receive approximately $6.5 billion, making it one of the largest insolvency settlements ever reached globally and by far the largest in Canadian history.
The restructuring was unprecedented in scope, involving claims by all ten Canadian provinces and potential claims by Canadian smokers across multiple jurisdictions worldwide. In total, the proceedings engaged hundreds of thousands of individual claimants across class actions in Québec and other provinces, required the coordination of parallel foreign recognition proceedings in the United States and other international jurisdictions under their respective insolvency frameworks, and necessitated the enactment of bespoke provincial and federal legislative measures to facilitate the comprehensive global resolution. The plans of arrangement, sanctioned by the court following the successful conclusion of mediation, established a multi-billion-dollar settlement trust to administer distributions to provincial healthcare claimants and individual smoker creditors, providing meaningful recoveries across all creditor classes.
This recognition underscores the strength of McMillan's Restructuring & Insolvency practice and its ability to advise governments and other stakeholders on highly complex, multi-jurisdictional matters. The McMillan team—Brett Harrison, Tushara Weerasooriya and Guneev Bhinder—demonstrated exceptional skill, teamwork and rigour throughout this historic restructuring.