Banks, credit unions, caisses populaires and other financial institutions are eligible to make loans under the Canada Small Business Financing Act. The decision to grant or not to grant a loan is up to the lender. Do not send your loan application or business plan to the Small Business Financing Directorate.  Visit a financial institution of your choice.   

List of lenders

No.  This program is delivered by financial institutions on behalf of the federal government. Financial institutions are required to apply the same care and procedures in making a CSBF loan as they would for conventional loans of similar amounts. Decisions related to granting loans rest entirely with lenders.

The Small Business Financing Directorate at Industry Canada is available to provide you with information related to the program. However, Industry Canada does not get involved in the decision making process of financial institutions nor does it accept or process loan applications.

The majority of financial institutions participate in this program.  The decision to lend under the program is up to the individual financial institution.

List of lenders

Most for profit small and medium size businesses in Canada with gross revenues or projected revenues of less than $5 million are eligible to apply for loans under this program. Such businesses can be corporations, sole proprietors, or partnerships.

Farming businesses are not eligible under this program. The Farm Improvement and Marketing Cooperatives Loans Program, administered by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, is designed to increase the availability of loans for the purpose of farming.

Loans can finance the cost of:

• the purchase or improvement of real property and immovables
• the purchase of leasehold improvements, or improvement to leased property; and
• the purchase or improvement of new or used equipment

Financial institutions can finance up to 90% of the cost of asset acquisition or asset improvement.

The maximum loan amount a small business can access under this program is $500,000, of which $350,000 can be used to finance the purchase or improvement of equipment and the purchase of leasehold improvements. Note that the maximum loan amount was $250,000 for loans made before April 1, 2009.  

Registration fee:
The registration fee is 2% of the total amount of the loan. The registration fee can be financed. 

Interest rate:
The interest rate may be variable or fixed.  For a variable rate, the maximum chargeable is the lender’s prime lending rate plus 3%.  For a fixed rate, the maximum chargeable is the lenders’ single family residential mortgage rate plus 3%.

Decisions to lend are based on lending criteria of each financial institution. You could contact another financial institution since lenders have different criteria related to the granting of commercial loans.

Often your financial services providers will want to resolve a complaint promptly and fairly. You should:

1. Talk with your financial officer or the person you originally dealt with at your financial institution and explain the problem.
2. Make a complaint to the next level (i.e. branch, district or regional manager) of dispute resolution with the firm.
3. Contact the Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments. 

For more information on other government programs and services, visit the Canada Business website. This site provides information on government services for entrepreneurs related to business start-up, financing, taxes, importing, exporting, etc.