A large, multi-phased purpose-built rental project in Mississauga was placed under receivership just before Christmas, according to filings in Ontario Superior Court, meaning a project first proposed over three years ago won't get off the ground anytime soon.

The project was being undertaken by Mississauga-based Ahmed Group, which was founded in 1966. The firm claims to have a development pipeline exceeding $2 billion in value and assets under management of nearly $100 million through multiple funds.

At 1000 and 1024 Dundas St. E., near the intersection with Tomken Road, Ahmed Group — through AG (1000 & 1024 Dundas St. E.) GP Inc. and AG (1000 & 1024 Dundas St. E.) LP — was planning 543 residential units across four-storey, 16-storey, and 20-storey buildings. The project would also include approximately 10,000 sq. ft of commercial space and a two-level underground parkade.

Plans were submitted in September 2022 and the site is currently occupied by multiple commercial buildings with a total of 41 tenants, including the offices of Ahmed Group.

For the project, Ahmed Group secured financing from Toronto-based non-bank lender Morrison Financial Mortgage Corporation, with the two sides entering into a loan agreement in March 2023 for $15 million, split between $10,250,000 to refinance existing debt on the properties and a credit facility to finance soft costs for the redevelopment project.

Serving as the guarantor of the loan was Mohammed Irfan Ahmed, whom court documents identify as the principal of the borrowers and Ahmed Group’s website identifies as its president and CEO.

Default and forbearance

According to Morrison Financial’s receivership application, the developer first defaulted on the loan agreement in December 2024 after it failed to pay property taxes to the City of Mississauga. The lender issued a default letter and Ahmed Group subsequently cured the default.

The loan then matured on May 1, 2025, but the developer failed to pay the full outstanding balance and the two sides could not come to terms on a renewal or extension of the loan.

“The Debtors subsequently requested an informal forbearance arrangement, in order to allow the Debtors to seek refinancing, however, the parties have not agreed to any terms of forbearance, and no interest or payments have been made on account of the outstanding indebtedness since its maturity,” said Morrison Financial. “In fact, the Debtors have continued to collect rental income from the Dundas Properties and have refused to pay it to the Lender on account of accruing interest unless the Lender agrees to their proposed forbearance terms.”

On June 5, Morrison issued a formal demand for payment with $14,898,299.84 owed as of that day and interest continuing to accrue thereafter.

After Ahmed Group failed to pay, Morrison filed the receivership application on July 8. The application was originally set to be heard on Oct. 1, but the two sides reached a last-minute forbearance agreement that delayed enforcement until Dec. 5. According to court documents, Ahmed Group has been unable to secure refinancing and the project was placed under receivership on Dec. 17.

Ahmed Group

While Morrison Financial’s application describes a sequence of events with the same broad strokes as many recent insolvencies, an affidavit sworn by Mohammed Irfan Ahmed on Aug. 29 adds more context and complexity.

According to Ahmed, when the company began discussing the loan with Morrison Financial in October 2022, the amount Ahmed Group was seeking was $17 million, the amount Ahmed believed was needed for the project. The loan agreement was ultimately for $15 million, but Morrison indicated it would “use best efforts to increase the loan amount to $17,000,000.”

“The Ahmed Group agreed to proceed with Morrison and the financing on that basis,” Ahmed said in the affidavit. “However, despite the foregoing, Morrison advanced only $15 million and never provided the additional $2 million. This shortfall has materially underfunded the Project, caused the Respondents to defer soft cost development expenditures, and contributed directly to challenges faced by the Project.”

Ahmed states in his affidavit that Morrison prepared a lender package to market the loan to prospective participants, in which Morrison seemed to recognize additional capital would be needed to advance the project. The lender package is backed by a completed project valuation of $275 million.

Furthermore, Ahmed states that to mitigate the $2-million shortfall, the company secured $6 million from a third-party investor in August 2023 that was conditional on approval from Morrison. Ahmed said the company requested approval from Morrison that month, but did not receive consent from Morrison until February 2024, by which time the investor had withdrawn.

As for its refinancing efforts, Ahmed states the company received expressions of interest and proposals from TD Commercial, RBC and CMLS. Each of the offers were sufficient to refinance the debt and the options were presented to Morrison, but Ahmed claimed Morrison was not cooperative, preventing the transactions from being completed and then initiating the receivership.

The status of the filing

The judge presiding over the case stated in a note on Dec. 17 that Ahmed Group is still hoping to secure refinancing and has requested the receiver — Albert Gelman Inc. — not launch into a sales process too quickly.

“The receiver has been appointed as a court-supervised stabilizing officer while a refinancing or full payout of the secured lender is completed,” Ahmed wrote in a statement provided to RENX.

“The proceedings relate exclusively to a single, legacy project-level special purpose vehicle. Neither Ahmed Group at the holding or platform level, nor AG Property Trust, are parties to the proceedings, and neither entity’s assets, governance, or operations are subject to the receivership.”