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Tips on Using the E-Filing System

Administration Type Changes

The e-filing system can now change the administration type of an estate (i.e., change a summary administration to a Division II proposal, and vice-versa). There are a few exceptions, and some changes may trigger a manual review.

Affidavits

Some registrars noted that the wording used on some affidavits indicates that they were mailed, when in fact the documents were either e-mailed or e-filed. When appropriate, you should modify the wording to reflect correctly the situation, for example by replacing the word mailed by sent.

Alert to OSB

The text box limit, previously set at 150 characters, has been vastly increased. It should provide more than enough characters for trustees and proposal administrators to communicate important information to the OSB. Please note that the expanded alert should not be used as an alternative method for submitting documents.

If your insolvency software allows it, you may be able to upload an alert as an XML document, instead of filling out the text box.

Annual Banking Report

With the appropriate software, trustees are now able to send the Annual Banking Report (Schedule 2) via the E-Filing system.

To upload an Annual Banking Report (ABR), select the link located in the bottom left hand corner on the e-filing welcome page. The process to upload a file is the same as for any other prescribed form. Don’t forget to record the reference number.

Attestation for consumer proposals

Proposals administrators can either upload the following attestation (as per the position statement issued on May 12, 2004) as a softcopy document or include it as a note on the SRD: 

I, <name>, administrator/trustee of the consumer proposal of xxx, hereby attest that at no time between the filing of this proposal on xxx and today's date, was the proposal deemed to be annulled as provided for in section 66.31 of the BIA.

Signed, this <date>

Automatic Letter of Comment vs. Bankrupt Discharge Information / Certificate of full performance

For an automatic letter of comment to be produced, the bankrupt's discharge information or the Certificate of full performance should have been submitted to the e-filing system before the SRD submission. Trustees or proposal administrators should take into consideration that if the information is sent electronically (i.e. in xml), it should be sent at least the day before. If the information is sent in softcopy format or faxed to the Division Office, it may take a few days before the information is entered in the system.

Certificate — Language

If the language of the estate differs from the language of the trustee or the proposal administrator, the certificate of appointment or the certificate of filing will be provided in both official languages.

Certificates — Printing

If you're having problems printing the certificates (e.g. no data is included on the document) and your are using Internet Explorer 5.5, you may need to update the software. A free download of Internet Explorer 5.5. Service Pack 2 is available at www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/downloads/archive/default.mspx

Change of administration type

When filing a change of administration type (bankruptcy to proposal, for example), trustees or proposal administrators should use the "New filing" button to file the initial document package.

Conflict of interest

If you want to explain the reason for a conflict of interest, you'll need to upload the reason as a softcopy document. (Even if there is space in your software to enter a reason, the e-filing system won't receive it.)

Consumer Proposal and Report of administrator on consumer proposal (Forms 47 and 48) as softcopy

To provide proposal administrators with more flexibility, the e-filing system allows you to send the Consumer Proposal (Form 47) and the Report of administrator on consumer proposal (Form 48) as softcopy documents at the initial filing stage, even though they are prescribed forms. This allows administrators to create the proposal or report with applications such as Microsoft Word, Excel or Corel WordPerfect.

How does it work? At initial filing, if the insolvency software only send the following prescribed forms: Form 1, EIS, Assessment certificate, and Forms 65 and 79, in XML format, the e-filing system will notice that the Forms 47 and 48 are missing, and will prompt the user to file them in softcopy format. As various insolvency software may work differently, if users encounter any difficulty with this feature they may want to contact the e-filing help desk by email at OSB.efiling.helpdesk@ic.gc.ca or call them at 1-877-227-3672 between 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, Monday to Friday.

Conversion to paper

In some circumstances, an electronic file may have to be converted to paper. Here are some examples of such situations: 

  • A Division I proposal has been filed by a bankrupt (summary administration).
  • Due to an incorrect postal code, the filing has been directed to the wrong division office. As electronic files cannot be moved from one office to another within e-filing, the estate must be converted to paper and be rerouted to the correct division office.

Correcting information about a previous bankruptcy

If you've told the e-filing system that a debtor has never been bankrupt or submitted a proposal before and find out later that this is not true, you need to: 

  1. correct the EIS and Form 79 and re-file them; and
  2. contact the Official Receiver to let them know why you've re-filed these forms. The alert to the OSB could be used to provide the explanation.

Deceased debtors — name

In the case of a deceased debtor, be sure to add "The Estate of the Late" before the debtor's first name, e.g.

Last name: Smith
First name: The estate of the late John

EIS — Division II Proposals

When filing the EIS, please complete the item D) in section V of the EIS if the following situations occur: (1) the terms of a Division II proposal are undetermined (e.g.: a combination of an undetermined number of months or payments, or a undetermined lump sum, that will result in an undefined amount), or (2) the proposal includes non-monetary terms.

EIS — Estate Numbers

When entering the estate number for a previous proceeding on the EIS, it is important to include the two-digit Division Office prefix and the dash (e.g.: 31–123456).

Filing related documents

To facilitate the filing of documents, the e-filing system will inform users of which documents must be uploaded immediately (during the session) in softcopy format and which documents may be either uploaded in softcopy format or faxed or mailed to the Division Office at a later date. In the latter case, the confirmation screen will list the missing documents and remind the user to send them within the required time period(s).

Foreign address

Do not type your address and the mention "in care of" on the EIS when the debtor resides outside of Canada. The address for a non-Canadian debtor should be entered as follows:

Enter \\ or – – in the "Province" field.
Enter the debtor's full address (City, Province, Country) in the "City" Field or "Street".
Enter the trustee postal code in the "Postal Code" field.

Help Button — Improvements

Users will now be able to access the online version of the user manual E-Filing – A step-by-step approach by clicking "Manual" on the e-filing menu bar. These tips will also be accessible by clicking "Help" on the e-filing menu bar.

Logging out

Right now, closing your browser is the only way to log out of the e-filing system. This step is necessary as the Industry Canada website has an "anti-timeout" feature which automatically logs users back in.

Notices of intention

For all notices of intention, subsequent documents, including the Division I proposal, should be filed as updates.

Notice of request for mediation and Monthly income and expenses (Forms 60 and 65)

A Notice of request for mediation (Form 60) must be e-filed with a Monthly income and expenses statement of the bankrupt and the family unit (Form 65). Your software should allow you to submit those forms in one xml file.

"Other" category — Filing of softcopy documents

When filing softcopy documents using the "other" category, please type a document title that is as appropriately descriptive as possible.

Outages

To reduce inconvenience as much as possible, OSB informs trustees and administrators, by e-mail, of any planned outages occurring during working hours. It is therefore very important that users ensure that their email address is correct.

Planned outages will continue to be posted in the "What's New" section of the OSB Web site (go to www.osb-bsf.gc.ca and click "What's New" on the menu bar at the top of the screen).

Trustees and proposal administrators can now subscribe to receive notices of both planned and, when possible, unscheduled shutdowns of the e-filing system. Simply click "Preferences" on the e-filing menu bar and enter an email address.

Service standards

If you haven't received documents or email messages, e.g. certificate, letter of comment, in the expected time frame, please call the Division Office to enquire.

Statement of Affairs (Form 79) — Asset values

Directive 8R3 states in section 7, "a numerical value of $1 is to be used to indicate an unknown asset dollar value, where a 'best estimate' cannot be provided." If a Statement of Affairs which lists assets of $0 value is submitted to the e-filing system, the submission will be returned.

Please note that the system accepts Statements of Affairs listing assets with net realizable value of $0. For example, a Statement of Affairs with a leased vehicle of asset value $18,000 and net realizable value of $0 would be accepted by the e-filing system.

Statement of Affairs (Form 79) — Multiple employers and occupations

If the debtor has more than one job, enter all of the debtor's employers in the same field, separated by commas.

Do the same in the occupation field if the debtor has more than one occupation.

Statement of Affairs (Form 79) — Unknown and exempt

Don't enter "unknown" or "exempt" in any field that asks for a $ value on these forms. The e-filing system won't accept them.

Substituting trustees or proposal administrators

New trustee/administrator — before you can e-file, you need to inform the Official Receiver that you are now the responsible trustee/administrator so that the e-filing system will recognize you.

Former trustee/administrator — after substitution, you won't have access to the electronic estate file. You can file only paper documents to the estate.

Summary Administrations — Joint filing

The following forms must be submitted as softcopy documents in a joint filing if one of the debtors has been bankrupt on a previous occasion:

  • Notice of bankruptcy and first meeting of creditors (form 67)
  • Notice of Impending Automatic Discharge of Bankrupt (form 68)
  • Notice of Bankruptcy and of Impending Automatic Discharge of Bankrupt, and Request of a First Meeting of Creditors (form 69)
  • Notice of bankruptcy and request of a first meeting of creditors (form 70)
  • Certificate of discharge (form 84)
  • Certificate of discharge (conditions met) (form 85)

Switching a joint filing from paper to e-filing

If you want to switch a joint filing from paper to e-filing, please ensure that both estate numbers are included in the Form 1 data. You can then proceed with the submission, i.e. enter one of the estate numbers, verify that the estate names and numbers are correct, and upload a prescribed form. The e-filing system will then be able to recognize that this is a joint estate.

User Agreement — Updated Version

Trustees and proposal administrators already using the e-filing system will be able to accept updated versions of the user agreement online. They will also have the option of printing it and sending it to the Designated Assistant Superintendent by mail or fax. Please note that there will be a deadline for acceptance of new versions of the agreement. If the agreement has not been accepted by the deadline, trustees/administrators as well as their staff will not be able to use the system until the agreement is accepted. Only the newest version of the user agreement will be recognized by the system so updated versions must be accepted even if trustees or administrators do not plan to use the new features.

Date Modified: 2010-06-14

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