The Quebec flagship Cavalia throws in the towel. The cultural business that we knew in great financial difficulty declares bankruptcy, completed by debts amounting to more than $ 20 million.
The Cavalia group itself made the decision to put itself, with its sisters companies, bankrupt, by submitting a request to this effect on April 25.
His creditors claimed a total exceeding $ 27 million, according to documents submitted to the office of the Superintendent of bankruptcies and obtained by The newspaper.
Unfortunately for taxpayers, an important part of this sum is public money. Loans of $ 4.4 million in investment Quebec, $ 3.5 million from the Cultural Business Development Society (SODEC) and $ 1.8 million in Canada economic development are among the debts.
Caisse Desjardins du Plateau-Mont-Royal, its largest creditor, claims it $ 10.4 million.
“Much sadness”
According to our information, Cavalia was particularly undermined by the pandemic, which has been devastating for many actors in the cultural industry.
The blow of grace will have been the end in the fish tail of the illuminated show in Laval, which was the subject of an injunction request by the City of Laval, because Cavalia did not dismantle its installations on the ground belonging to Laval. The site is still strewn with equipment and waste linked to the show.
Illumi’s facilities that have not been dismantled in time are prosecuted by the City of Laval since September 2024. Photo Martin Chevalier
By commenting on the file last November, the company had admitted to Journal that it was in financial difficulty.
Things deteriorated last March when Desjardins filed notice of sale in judicial control to seize the two real estate properties of Cavalia in Beauce and Estrie.
“The broken promises in recent years have hurt us. […] This is why we live the present situation, which takes place against our will, with great sadness, ”commented Normand Latourelle, founder and artistic director of Cavalia, in a statement transmitted to Journal to whom he declined an interview request.
It probably refers to the mayor of Laval, Stéphane Boyer. The latter had been pointed out by Cavalia for the way in which Illumi ended, while the company and the city and the company had failed to agree on an extension of the show.
The end of a flagship
Founded in 2002 by Normand Latourelle, Cavalia specialized for almost two decades in horse shows with the objective of “reinventing equestrian arts and scene arts”.
First media of the Odysséo show in Cavalia in Montreal, July 24, 2018. Pierre-Paul Poulin / Archives Le Journal de Montréal
-The company has joined millions of spectators around the world with its two shows “Cavalia” and “Odysseo”.
On her website, Cavalia still describes himself as “the largest company in the entertainment sector held and operated by Canadians”.
From 2019, she began to abandon horses to offer light journey shows. These were offered in Laval and Terrebonne, but also in Ontario, Singapore and Los Angeles.
The Illumi Laval site in 2023. in the house
Cavalia continued her efforts until recently to deploy a luminous course in a Huntington park in California, arousing civic opposition.
“In 20 years, our 100% Quebec family business has produced nearly 10,000 performances in more than 100 cities around the world,” said Latourelle.
– With Philippe Langlois, investigation office
Justice procedures with Laval suspended
The bankruptcy of Cavalia forces the suspension of legal proceedings in the city of Laval which aimed to force the company to collect the abandoned installations on the old site of Illumi.
This was confirmed on Sunday Jonathan Lévesque, spokesperson for the city of Laval, adding that the municipality “deplores” the current situation.
“The city will offer all its collaboration to the trustee responsible for administering bankruptcy, in order to protect our rights and access to our land,” he said. We wish the cleaning and release of the site as quickly as possible and regret that Cavalia / Illumi did not comply with the obligations of its agreement with the city. ”
The complete declaration of Normand Latourelle
“In 20 years, our 100% Quebec family business has produced nearly 10,000 performances in more than 100 cities around the world. Over the years, our shows have generated more than 30 million in tax revenue for governments and more than 100 million in the community.
However, less than 1% of our income comes from subsidies, a major exception in a field often subsidized by the State in favor of quasi-monopolies and sometimes foreign interests, and we are rather forced to finance ourselves with our own funds and with too expensive loans.
The broken promises of recent years have hurt us. Our primary mission is and has always been to create magic and happiness for our spectators. This is why we live the present situation, which takes place against our will, with great sadness.
Thank you for accompanying us in our last 20 years of creation and, we hope, in our future creations. ”
