Coast Appliances Enters CCAA, $69M Lender Filing Drives Full Liquidation

Coast Wholesale Appliances Inc. and Coast Holdings (GP) Ltd. entered a lender-led CCAA case in the British Columbia Supreme Court that moved from a $69 million debt default to full-store liquidation within weeks. Bank of Montreal, as administrative agent for the lending syndicate, filed the CCAA application on April 17, 2026, two days after the company's full board of directors and chief executive officer resigned.

PricewaterhouseCoopers Inc., LIT was appointed monitor with enhanced powers. Operating as Coast Appliances, the two debtor entities ran 17 showrooms and 9 distribution centres across British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Ontario, along with an e-commerce platform, and employed approximately 300 people when the case began.

Board Resignations and Lender Petition

All directors and the CEO resigned April 15, 2026, leaving the company without governance before the lender-led CCAA application. The lending syndicate carried approximately $69 million in outstanding debt as of March 31, 2026, excluding interest, fees, and costs. The syndicate extended a $2 million facility to fund the CCAA proceedings.

TriWest Capital Partners and related investors had injected approximately $60 million into Coast by fall 2024. The company later missed sale milestones under repeated forbearance arrangements and breached covenants under its credit facility. Management attributed the distress to a sustained decline in consumer spending, supply-chain disruption, import tariffs, and a slowdown in multifamily residential development across the company's core markets.

Capital Support and Forbearance Timeline

The lender filing followed an out-of-court process in which equity support did not restore covenant compliance. By March 31, 2026, Coast owed about $69 million to the syndicate before interest, fees, and costs, and the lenders provided the $2 million proceeding facility after seeking court-supervised protection.

Liquidation Through Hilco Merchant Solutions

The comeback hearing sought approval of an agency agreement with Hilco Merchant Solutions ULC to conduct store-closing sales at all 17 remaining locations. Five locations had closed prior to the filing — Vaughan and Burlington in Ontario, Edmonton South, Calgary North, and Abbotsford.

Fasken acted as counsel to Bank of Montreal; McCarthy Tétrault represented PwC as monitor; Cassels acted for Hilco.

Frequently Asked Questions

What happened to Coast Appliances? Coast Appliances entered CCAA protection on April 17, 2026, after Bank of Montreal filed a lender-led application and the company's directors and CEO resigned.

How much debt was involved? The lending syndicate was owed approximately $69 million as of March 31, 2026, excluding interest, fees, and costs.

Are stores still operating? Hilco Merchant Solutions was retained to conduct going-out-of-business sales at all 17 locations, with online sales also included in the liquidation process.

For another retail liquidation case, see ElevenFlo's coverage of Mountain Sports LLC.