The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) is taking action to try and collect some of the $14.4 million in sanctions ordered against real estate developer Harry Stinson by the Capital Markets Tribunal, after it found that he violated securities rules when raising funding for a hotel renovation project.
In 2023, the tribunal ordered $13.5 million in disgorgement against Stinson and his companies — plus penalties and costs — after ruling that he and the companies illegally distributed securities when raising financing for a project to redevelop the Buffalo Grand Hotel in upstate New York, along with other regulatory violations.
Now, the OSC is seeking a bankruptcy order and the appointment of a trustee over Stinson’s assets, after running out of patience for the prospect of recovering money for investors from the failed project.
“Since the 2023 ruling, the OSC has provided Mr. Stinson with reasonable opportunities to comply with the order after he claimed funds may become available to repay investors if he were able to refinance and then restore, re-open and potentially sell the Buffalo Grand Hotel,” the regulator said in a release.
However, the efforts to find new financing for the project have seemingly come up empty — and, in late 2025, the City of Buffalo began proceedings in New York State Supreme Court seeking to have the hotel deemed to be abandoned.
In court filings, Stinson has opposed the city’s efforts, and those proceedings are ongoing.
In the meantime, the OSC is now calling time on the prospect of investors getting their money back out of the project.
“Mr. Stinson has been unable to demonstrate a viable path toward making investors whole, and addressing the sanctions ordered against him,” the OSC said.
“[T]oday’s application for a bankruptcy order is necessary to try to resolve this long running case and potentially obtain disgorgement amounts that could be distributed to harmed investors,” it added.
A hearing has been scheduled for Sept. 23 to hear the regulator’s application.
Last year, the tribunal rejected an application from Stinson seeking to reduce the sanctions, which he argued were preventing him from securing new financing for the project — and ultimately from returning money to investors.
In that decision, the tribunal ruled that Stinson failed to prove that removing the sanctions was justified, and would be in the public interest.