Who lends to business in British Columbia
Every kind of lender, what each one suits, and what they will ask you for.
154 banks, credit unions, Crown lenders, government-backed programs, grant programs and private lenders, each with what it is actually good for, in plain English. Knowing which door to knock on is most of the work.
The lenders
Where would you like to look?
BanksThe chartered banks, and who regulates them.17 listed →
Credit unionsMember-owned, British Columbian, and often more flexible.29 listed →
Crown lenders and government-backed programsBDC, EDC, FCC, and the guarantee that makes your bank say yes.18 listed →
Equipment and vehicle financeThe machine, the truck or the fit-out pays for itself.14 listed →
Working capital, receivables and inventoryCash now against money you are already owed.12 listed →
Online and alternative lendersFast, small, short, and expensive.8 listed →
Private credit and equityFor deals a bank will not fully fund.11 listed →
Commercial propertyBuying, building or refinancing the premises.9 listed →
Grants and non-repayable fundingMoney you do not pay back, if you fit.36 listed →
Which kind of lender fits what you need
Rough guidance, not a rule: which institution suits which need. Cost is shown relative to the others on this page, because real pricing depends on your business, your security and the day. For what each product is and what the three cost tiers really charge, see the financing guide's A, B and C at a glance.
| Where you go | What it suits | What they want to see | How long it takes | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bank or credit union, term loan | Equipment, property, an acquisition, refinancing | Two to three years of statements, cash flow covering payments about 1.25 times over, security, and usually a personal guarantee | Weeks to a couple of months | Lowest |
| Bank or credit union, operating line | The gap between paying for work and being paid for it | Receivables and inventory to lend against, and regular reporting on both | Weeks | Low: interest only on what you draw |
| Government-backed loan, through your own bank | Equipment, leasehold improvements, property, and start-ups with no history | The same file the bank wants. The guarantee covers the bank's risk, not yours | Weeks | Low, plus a registration fee |
| BDC | Growth, buying a business, equipment, working capital, and files a bank finds too thin | A plan, and cash flow that supports it. Often lends alongside your bank rather than instead of it | Weeks to a couple of months | Above a bank, below private credit |
| Equipment lender or lessor | One machine, vehicle, or a fit-out | The invoice and your credit history. The asset is the security | Days to weeks | Moderate |
| Receivables finance or factoring | Cash now against invoices already issued | Customers who pay reliably. They check your customers as much as they check you | Days | High, priced per invoice |
| Online or alternative lender | Small amounts, quickly, over a short term | Bank statements and card sales | Days | Highest. Work out the true yearly cost |
| Private credit or mezzanine | Deals a bank will not fully fund | Real profit, a real plan, and a clear way out | Weeks to months | High, usually with fees and sometimes a share |
| Equity investor | Growth that no amount of cash flow could repay | A business that could be worth several times what it is worth now | Months | You give up ownership rather than make payments |
| Grants | A cost you were going to incur anyway | A project, a budget, and usually approval before you spend | Months, and often once a year | Nothing, if you fit. Your time, if you do not |
Starting up: what opens when
A start-up is financed on the founder first and on the business later. What each stage opens — day one, twelve months of sales, two full years of statements, year five — and what it takes, is laid out once on the start-up page, with every program's published terms.
Banks
Where do I start with a bank?
Canada's large banks do most of the commercial lending in the country. They are the cheapest money a business can borrow, and the hardest to get: they want a track record, cash flow that comfortably covers the payments, and security. Start with the bank you already hold your accounts with, then take the same file to one other. A prepared file is worth more in the rate than any amount of negotiating.
| Name | Who they are | What it suits |
|---|---|---|
| The large banks | ||
| RBC Royal Bank | Royal Bank of Canada | Canada's largest bank by assets, with business banking from a single-owner account through to full commercial and corporate lending. Deep branch coverage across British Columbia. |
| TD Canada Trust | Toronto-Dominion Bank | Small business and commercial banking, term lending, operating lines and equipment finance. Long branch hours, and a large small-business lending operation. |
| Scotiabank | Bank of Nova Scotia | Small business and commercial banking. Its subsidiary Roynat Capital handles mid-market term and mezzanine lending, which is useful when a request outgrows ordinary branch limits. |
| BMO Bank of Montreal | Bank of Montreal | Business banking, commercial lending and equipment finance, with a large agriculture and franchise practice. |
| CIBC | Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce | Business banking and commercial lending, including agriculture and professional practice financing for doctors, dentists and similar. |
| National Bank of Canada | The sixth of Canada's large banks, historically strongest in Quebec. It completed its acquisition of Canadian Western Bank on 3 February 2025, which considerably widened its commercial presence in Western Canada, along with the equipment leasing business that came with it. | |
| Laurentian Bank | Laurentian Bank of Canada | A Quebec-based bank with a national commercial and equipment finance business. |
| Who regulates them, and where complaints go | ||
| Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) | Government of Canada | The federal regulator for banks and federal credit unions. Its published list of federally regulated financial institutions is the way to check whether a lender is what it says it is. |
| BC Financial Services Authority (BCFSA) | Province of British Columbia | Regulates BC credit unions, mortgage brokers and insurers. Its registries confirm whether a mortgage broker or lender you have been introduced to is registered in this province. |
| Financial Consumer Agency of Canada | Government of Canada | Where a complaint about a federally regulated bank goes once the bank's own complaints process is exhausted. It also publishes plain-language guidance on what banks may and may not do. |
| Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation (CDIC) | Government of Canada | Insures eligible deposits at federal banks and federal credit unions. Deposits at BC credit unions are covered separately and without limit by the Credit Union Deposit Insurance Corporation of British Columbia. |
| Banks that lend to business in other ways | ||
| Equitable Bank | A federally regulated bank focused on commercial real estate and specialised lending rather than branch banking. | |
| Peoples Group | Peoples Trust Company | A Vancouver-based trust company lending on commercial and multi-unit residential property, and providing payments services. |
| Roynat Capital | Roynat, a Scotiabank company | Scotiabank's mid-market arm: term lending, mezzanine and equipment finance for businesses that have outgrown a branch. |
| Desjardins Business | Desjardins Group | The largest co-operative financial group in Canada, strongest in Quebec and Ontario, with commercial lending across the country. |
| ATB Financial | Alberta's provincially owned bank. Worth knowing if you operate on both sides of the Rockies. | |
| First Nations Bank of Canada | A chartered bank majority owned by Indigenous shareholders, lending to Indigenous businesses, communities and enterprises across Canada. | |
Credit unions
Would a credit union be a better fit?
Credit unions are owned by their members rather than by shareholders, and BC has one of the strongest credit union sectors in Canada. For an owner-led business they are often worth the first call: the person deciding is usually closer to you, the file is more likely to be judged on the whole picture than on a score, and most participate in the same government-backed programs the banks do. Sizes vary enormously, so match the size of the request to the size of the institution.
| Name | Who they are | What it suits |
|---|---|---|
| The largest in British Columbia | ||
| Vancity | Vancouver City Savings Credit Union | One of Canada's largest community credit unions, based in Vancouver. Business banking, commercial lending and commercial mortgages, with a long-standing focus on co-operatives, non-profits, social enterprises and environmental projects. |
| Coast Capital Savings | Coast Capital Savings Federal Credit Union | A federally regulated credit union based in Surrey, and one of the largest credit unions in the country. Business accounts, term lending, operating lines and commercial mortgages. |
| Beem Credit Union | Formed on 1 January 2024 by the merger of Gulf & Fraser and Interior Savings, joined by BlueShore Financial in 2025. It now trades under the BlueShore Financial, GFCU Savings, Gulf & Fraser, Interior Savings and North Peace Savings names across the Lower Mainland, Fraser Valley, Thompson, Okanagan and the north, with commercial lending and leasing alongside everyday business banking. | |
| Tru Cooperative Bank | Tru Cooperative Bank, formerly First West Credit Union | First West Credit Union became a federally regulated credit union on 1 April 2026 and now operates as Tru Cooperative Bank. It continues to trade as Envision Financial, Island Savings, Valley First and Enderby & District Financial, with commercial lending across the Fraser Valley, Vancouver Island and the Okanagan. |
| Prospera Credit Union | A Fraser Valley and Lower Mainland credit union with a substantial commercial book, formed by the merger of Prospera and Westminster Savings. Business banking, commercial lending, commercial mortgages and equipment finance. | |
| Regional and community credit unions | ||
| Community Savings Credit Union | A Lower Mainland credit union with deep roots in the labour movement, working with unions, their members and unionized employers. | |
| Kootenay Savings Credit Union | Serves the West Kootenay and Boundary. For a business outside the Lower Mainland, a local credit union is often the only lender whose decision-maker has actually seen the town. | |
| Integris Credit Union | Prince George and the northern interior. Business accounts, commercial lending and agricultural lending. | |
| SASCU | Salmon Arm Savings and Credit Union | Shuswap and North Okanagan. Business banking and commercial lending for local businesses. |
| Sunshine Coast Credit Union | Sechelt, Gibsons and the Sunshine Coast, with business accounts and commercial lending for local operators. | |
| Khalsa Credit Union | A Lower Mainland credit union founded to serve the Punjabi Sikh community, with business accounts and commercial lending. | |
| Find every credit union in BC | BC Financial Services Authority | BC has credit unions in most communities, and this page is the regulator's own starting point for the sector. If your town has one, it belongs on your list. |
| Coastal Community Credit Union | Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands, with a substantial business banking and insurance operation. | |
| First Credit Union | Powell River, the Sunshine Coast and Vancouver Island, with business accounts and commercial lending. | |
| Ladysmith & District Credit Union | Central Vancouver Island, serving local businesses and non-profits. | |
| Nelson & District Credit Union | The West Kootenay, with commercial lending and a long record of local investment. | |
| Creston & District Credit Union | The Creston Valley, including agricultural lending. | |
| East Kootenay Community Credit Union | Cranbrook and the East Kootenay. | |
| Lake View Credit Union | The Peace region, around Dawson Creek. | |
| Williams Lake and District Credit Union | The Cariboo, with business and agricultural lending. | |
| Aldergrove Credit Union | The eastern Fraser Valley, with business accounts and commercial lending. | |
| Sharons Credit Union | A Lower Mainland credit union serving the Korean-Canadian community and small businesses generally. | |
| CCEC Credit Union | A small Vancouver credit union built around co-operatives, non-profits and social enterprises. | |
| Summerland Credit Union | The South Okanagan, including agricultural lending. | |
| Osoyoos Credit Union | The South Okanagan, with agricultural and small business lending. | |
| Revelstoke Credit Union | Revelstoke and the Columbia Valley. | |
| Grand Forks District Savings Credit Union | The Boundary region. | |
| Heritage Credit Union | The Kootenays, formed from several long-standing local credit unions. | |
| Beyond British Columbia | ||
| Coast Capital, Meridian, Servus and the rest | Canadian Credit Union Association | If you trade outside BC, the national locator finds credit unions in every other province, several of which have large commercial books. |
Crown lenders and government-backed programs
What will the government help fund?
These are not grants: the money is repaid. What they change is risk. Some are federal banks that lend directly and accept more risk than a commercial bank; others guarantee part of a loan so your own bank can lend more than it otherwise would. Most owners never ask about them, and most banks will not raise them unprompted.
| Name | Who they are | What it suits |
|---|---|---|
| Federal banks that lend directly | ||
| BDC | Business Development Bank of Canada | A federal Crown corporation and Canada's bank for entrepreneurs. It lends for equipment, property, technology, working capital, buying a business and growth, and it takes on files a commercial bank finds too thin. It commonly lends alongside your own bank rather than replacing it, and it prices above a bank to reflect the risk. |
| BDC Capital | Business Development Bank of Canada | BDC's investment arm: growth and transition capital for acquisitions, buying out a shareholder and succession, plus venture capital for technology businesses. This is where a deal goes when the cash flow supports more than the security does. |
| Farm Credit Canada | Farm Credit Canada (FCC) | The federal lender for agriculture and the food business: farms, equipment, land, processors and agribusiness suppliers. The largest agricultural lender in the country, and it understands seasonality in a way a branch lender usually does not. |
| Guarantees that make your own bank lend more | ||
| Canada Small Business Financing Program | Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada | A federal guarantee that shares the risk with your bank or credit union, so it can lend to a small business it would otherwise decline. You apply at your own financial institution, not to the government. Businesses with gross yearly revenue of $10 million or less are eligible, up to a published maximum of $1.15 million per borrower; farming is covered by a separate program. The sub-limits, rate caps and fees are kept, in full, on our financing page's CSBFP entry. |
| Canadian Agricultural Loans Act Program | Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada | The farming equivalent of the small business financing guarantee. Your own lender makes the loan; the federal government guarantees part of it. Also used by agricultural co-operatives. |
| EDC Export Guarantee Program | Export Development Canada | EDC guarantees part of a loan from your own bank so it can advance more working capital against export sales, foreign inventory or equipment. EDC also insures receivables from foreign customers, which often does more for your borrowing base than the loan itself. |
| Regional, community and targeted lenders | ||
| Community Futures British Columbia | Community Futures | A network of local non-profit offices across rural and small-town BC, funded federally. They lend to small businesses that banks will not, usually in modest amounts, and the loan comes with free business advice. If you are outside a city, start here as well as at the bank. |
| PacifiCan | Pacific Economic Development Canada | The federal regional development agency for British Columbia. It funds business growth, innovation and community economic development through programs that are sometimes repayable and sometimes not. |
| WeBC | Women's Enterprise Centre of British Columbia | Business loans, mentoring and advice for women-owned businesses in BC, from a non-profit funded through the federal government. The advice is free whether or not you borrow. |
| Futurpreneur | Futurpreneur Canada | Start-up financing and two years of mentoring for entrepreneurs aged 18 to 39, usually delivered alongside a BDC loan. One of very few places a new business with no track record can borrow at a sensible rate. |
| Indigenous financial institutions | National Aboriginal Capital Corporations Association (NACCA) | A national network of Indigenous-owned lenders providing developmental loans and business support to First Nations, Inuit and Métis entrepreneurs. NACCA's directory lists the institutions serving British Columbia. |
| All Nations Trust Company | All Nations Trust Company (ANTCO) | A BC Indigenous financial institution based in Kamloops, lending to Indigenous entrepreneurs and communities across the province. |
| Nuu-chah-nulth Economic Development Corporation | NEDC | A Port Alberni-based Indigenous financial institution lending across Vancouver Island and beyond, with business loans, grants and advisory support. |
| New Relationship Trust | A BC Indigenous organization funding capacity, education and business development for First Nations. | |
| Raven Indigenous Capital Partners | An Indigenous-led investment firm putting growth capital into Indigenous-owned businesses. | |
| Rise Asset Development | Rise | Low-interest small business loans and mentoring for entrepreneurs with mental health or addiction challenges. |
| Community Forward Fund | Lends to registered charities, non-profits and social enterprises, which most commercial lenders will not touch. | |
| Vancity Community Investment Bank | VCIB | A federally regulated bank lending to non-profits, affordable housing and clean energy projects. |
Equipment and vehicle finance
How do I finance a machine or a vehicle?
Equipment lending is the easiest commercial credit to get, because the asset itself is the security and its value is easy to check. It is usually faster than a bank loan and does not consume your operating line. Manufacturers and dealers almost all run their own finance arms, which can be sharper on rate for their own equipment than any lender, and slower to be flexible when something goes wrong.
| Name | Who they are | What it suits |
|---|---|---|
| Equipment lessors | ||
| National Bank equipment finance | National Bank of Canada, formerly CWB National Leasing | CWB National Leasing was one of the largest equipment lessors in Canada, financing everything from farm and construction equipment to office fit-outs. It came to National Bank with its 2025 acquisition of Canadian Western Bank, and the equipment finance business now sits inside the bank. |
| Meridian OneCap Credit Corp | Meridian OneCap | A commercial equipment lessor operating nationally from Vancouver, working largely through equipment vendors and dealers. |
| Jim Pattison Lease | A Vancouver-based lessor for vehicles, trucks and equipment, part of the Jim Pattison Group. | |
| Roynat Lease Finance | Equipment leasing from Scotiabank's mid-market arm. | |
| Econolease Financial Services | Leases equipment for restaurants, salons, medical and fitness businesses, often where a bank will not. | |
| Blue Chip Leasing | An independent Canadian lessor working through equipment vendors across most industries. | |
| Somerville National Leasing | An independent Canadian equipment lessor for small and mid-sized businesses. | |
| Vault Credit | Equipment and asset-based lending for businesses that do not fit a bank's box. | |
| John Deere Financial | The manufacturer's own finance arm for agricultural, turf and construction equipment. | |
| Caterpillar Financial Canada | Manufacturer finance for construction, mining and power equipment. | |
| PACCAR Financial Canada | Truck financing for Kenworth and Peterbilt fleets. | |
| Volvo Financial Services | Truck and construction equipment finance from the manufacturer. | |
| Foss National Leasing | Fleet leasing and management for businesses running vehicles. | |
| Fleet and vehicles | ||
| Element Fleet Management | Fleet leasing and management for businesses running vehicles at scale. Worth a look once a fleet is large enough that maintenance, fuel and resale matter as much as the payment. | |
Working capital, receivables and inventory
I am waiting to be paid and I need the cash now.
When the problem is timing rather than profit, the answer is usually an operating line from a bank or credit union. When that is not available or not enough, these lenders advance cash against invoices, inventory or card sales. They are quicker and less demanding than a bank, and they cost considerably more, so they suit a gap you can name and close rather than a permanent shortfall. The platforms you already sell through, such as Shopify, Square and Stripe, also lend against your sales on them, repaid automatically as a share of each day's takings.
| Name | Who they are | What it suits |
|---|---|---|
| Invoice and receivables finance | ||
| FundThrough | Advances cash against invoices you have already issued, invoice by invoice rather than as a whole book. Integrates with common accounting software, which makes it fast. | |
| Accord Financial | Accord Financial Corp. | A long-established Canadian commercial finance company: factoring, asset-based lending against receivables and inventory, and equipment finance. Used where a business has assets but not the statements a bank wants. |
| Liquid Capital | Liquid Capital Corp. | A network of independently owned offices across Canada offering factoring, purchase order finance and asset-based lending, usually to smaller businesses than the national firms take on. |
| J D Factors | Invoice factoring, with a long-standing specialism in trucking and transportation. | |
| Riviera Finance | Non-recourse factoring for small and mid-sized businesses, with offices across North America. | |
| eCapital | Factoring and asset-based lending across most industries, built from several acquired Canadian factors. | |
| REV Capital | Revolution Capital | Factoring for staffing, transportation and manufacturing businesses. |
| Sallyport Commercial Finance | Factoring and asset-based facilities for growing businesses in Canada and the United States. | |
| Bennington Financial | Equipment leasing and working capital for small businesses through brokers and vendors. | |
| Stripe Capital | Funding offered to businesses processing payments through Stripe, repaid as a share of sales. | |
| Sales-based and platform finance | ||
| Merchant Growth | A Vancouver-based small business lender offering working capital repaid as a fixed daily or weekly amount, or as a share of card sales. Fast, and priced accordingly. | |
| Shopify Capital | Shopify | Funding offered to Shopify merchants based on their store's sales, repaid as a share of daily revenue. Convenient, and only available to merchants the platform already has data on. |
Online and alternative lenders
I need money quickly and the bank is too slow.
Online lenders decide in days on bank statements and card sales rather than on financial statements. That speed is real and sometimes worth paying for. The cost is the catch: offers are often quoted as a flat fee or a daily payment rather than a yearly rate, which makes them look far cheaper than they are. Work out the true yearly cost before signing anything, and never take a second one to pay the first.
| Name | Who they are | What it suits |
|---|---|---|
| Online lenders | ||
| Lending Loop | A Canadian peer-to-peer lending platform: term loans to small businesses funded by individual and institutional investors, quoted as a yearly interest rate, which makes them easier to compare than most alternatives. | |
| Journey Capital | Journey Capital, formerly OnDeck Canada | Short-term loans and lines of credit for small businesses, decided quickly on bank data rather than on financial statements. Suited to a short gap you can name, not to a structural one. |
| Merchant Growth | A Vancouver lender offering working capital repaid daily, weekly, or as a share of card sales. | |
| Greenbox Capital | Short-term working capital and merchant advances for small businesses across Canada. | |
| Clearco | Revenue-based funding for e-commerce businesses, repaid as a share of sales. | |
| Loans Canada | A marketplace that puts one application in front of many lenders. Useful for seeing the range; read every offer on its true yearly cost. | |
| Smarter Loans | A comparison site listing Canadian business lenders, their products and their published rates. | |
| Before you sign | ||
| Work out the real cost first | Legatis Executive Partners | Short-term offers are usually quoted as a flat fee, a factor rate, or a daily payment. Our free offer comparison calculator converts two offers into the same yearly cost, including fees, and tells you which one is actually cheaper and by how much. |
Private credit and equity
What if the deal is bigger than the bank will go?
Private lenders sit between bank debt and selling shares. They charge more than a bank and expect a clear plan and a way out; in exchange they will fund things a bank will not, such as an acquisition, a buyout of a partner, or growth that outruns the security available. Equity investors do not need repaying at all, which is why they cost the most of anything on this page: a share of what you built, permanently.
| Name | Who they are | What it suits |
|---|---|---|
| Private credit and mezzanine | ||
| Roynat Capital | Roynat Capital, a Scotiabank company | Mid-market term and mezzanine lending for growth, acquisitions and succession, structured against cash flow rather than only against security. A common second layer above a senior bank loan. |
| Fulcrum Capital Partners | A Canadian private equity and mezzanine firm investing in established mid-market businesses, including management buyouts and succession deals. | |
| Equity | ||
| InBC Investment Corp. | Province of British Columbia | The Province's strategic investment fund, taking equity and equity-like positions in BC companies that can scale while keeping their operations here. |
| CVCA member directory | Canadian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association | The industry association for Canadian private equity and venture capital. Its membership is the practical way to find out which firms invest in businesses of your size and kind, before anyone approaches you. |
| Small business venture capital tax credit | Province of British Columbia | A BC tax credit for investors who put money into qualifying small businesses. Registering your company under the program can make raising equity locally considerably easier. |
| Pender Ventures | A Vancouver investor in technology and health businesses with real revenue. | |
| Yaletown Partners | A Vancouver venture firm backing technology companies solving industrial problems. | |
| Renewal Funds | A Vancouver impact investor in organic food and environmental technology businesses. | |
| Active Impact Investments | A Vancouver venture fund backing early climate-focused companies. | |
| Vanedge Capital | A Vancouver venture firm investing in software and deep technology. | |
| BC Tech Association | Not an investor, but the place BC technology founders find the ones who are. | |
Commercial property
I want to buy or refinance the building.
Commercial mortgages follow the property rather than the business: the lender looks at the building, its leases and its value first, and at you second. Owning the premises through a separate company, and paying rent to it, is a common structure and has real tax and succession consequences, so take advice before the offer, not after.
| Name | Who they are | What it suits |
|---|---|---|
| Commercial mortgages | ||
| First National Financial | First National Financial LP | One of Canada's largest non-bank commercial mortgage lenders, including insured multi-unit residential lending. Often used where a bank's appetite for a property does not match the borrower's. |
| CMHC multi-unit financing | Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation | Mortgage loan insurance for multi-unit residential property, which is what makes long amortizations and higher loan-to-value possible on apartment buildings. Applied for through an approved lender. |
| Canada ICI | A national commercial mortgage brokerage placing debt with dozens of lenders on one application. | |
| MCAP | One of Canada's largest independent commercial mortgage lenders, including CMHC-insured multi-unit residential. | |
| Trez Capital | A Vancouver-based private lender on commercial and development real estate. | |
| Romspen | A large Canadian private mortgage lender for commercial and development projects. | |
| Timbercreek | A Canadian lender on multi-unit residential and commercial property. | |
| Harbour Mortgage Corp | A private lender on commercial property, including situations banks decline. | |
| Private mortgage lenders | ||
| Check any private lender is registered | BC Financial Services Authority | Private mortgage lenders and mortgage investment corporations lend on commercial property when a bank will not, quickly and at a much higher cost. Mortgage brokers in BC must be registered, and the regulator's public registry is where you confirm it before paying anyone a fee. |
Grants and non-repayable funding
Is there funding I do not have to repay?
Grants are not free money: almost all of them pay a share of a cost you were going to incur anyway, most must be approved before you spend, and most take months. They are worth the effort when the project was happening regardless, and a waste of it when the grant is what makes the project happen. Read the eligibility before the amount, and never build a plan that only works if a grant lands.
| Name | Who they are | What it suits |
|---|---|---|
| Where to look first | ||
| Business Benefits Finder | Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada | The federal government's own search across hundreds of programs, federal and provincial. Answer a few questions about the business and it lists what you may qualify for. Start here rather than with a list. |
| BC funding and grants directory | Province of British Columbia | The provincial side of the same job: programs run by BC ministries and agencies. |
| Community Futures British Columbia | Community Futures | Local offices across rural BC that know which regional programs are open right now, and help with the application. Free. |
| Resources for businesses in B.C. | Province of British Columbia | The Province's own landing page for business help, the official pointer since Small Business BC closed in December 2024: the federal Business Benefits Finder, the Canada Small Business Financing Program, BC Bid, Buy BC and Trade and Invest BC, with the government contacts for each. Not a funder; the place to look before applying for anything. |
| Hiring, training and wages | ||
| BC Employer Training Grant | WorkBC | Covers a share of the cost of training your existing or new employees, up to a cap per person per year. The most widely used business grant in the province and the one most owners have never heard of. |
| WorkBC Wage Subsidy | WorkBC | A share of wages while you train a new hire who came through WorkBC. |
| Student Work Placement Program | Government of Canada | Wage subsidies for employers taking on post-secondary students in paid placements, delivered through industry associations. |
| Canada Summer Jobs | Government of Canada | Wage subsidies for hiring young people over the summer. Applications open once a year, months in advance. |
| Youth Employment and Skills Strategy | Government of Canada | Funding delivered through partner organizations for employers hiring and training young people. |
| Mitacs | Funds graduate students and postdoctoral fellows to work on a research problem inside your business, with the cost shared. The usual way a small company gets research capacity. | |
| Innovation and technology | ||
| NRC IRAP | National Research Council | Advisory services and cost-shared funding for technical innovation projects. An IRAP advisor is assigned to you, and they are usually the best-connected person you will meet. |
| SR&ED tax credits | Canada Revenue Agency | Not a grant but a refundable tax credit on eligible research and development. For a Canadian-controlled private company it can be a cash refund, which makes it the largest innovation support in the country. |
| Innovate BC | Provincial programs for BC technology and innovation companies: early funding, venture acceleration and programs that put companies in front of buyers. | |
| Global Innovation Clusters | Government of Canada | Five national clusters, including digital technology based in Vancouver, that co-fund collaborative projects between companies. |
| Strategic Innovation Fund | Government of Canada | Large-scale support for major projects. Aimed well above the small business market, but worth knowing it exists when a project is transformative in size. |
| Selling outside Canada | ||
| CanExport SMEs | Global Affairs Canada | Covers a share of the cost of entering a new export market: travel, trade shows, market research, translation, adapting your marketing. One of the most practical grants available to a small business. |
| Trade Commissioner Service | Global Affairs Canada | Free, and underused. Officers in Canada and in most markets who will make introductions and tell you what a market is really like. |
| EDC export insurance and knowledge | Export Development Canada | Not a grant, but insuring a foreign receivable often does more for your borrowing base than any grant would, and the market intelligence is free. |
| Agriculture and food | ||
| Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership | Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada | The framework behind most agricultural funding in Canada, delivered in BC through the province and industry bodies. |
| Buy BC Partnership Program | Province of British Columbia | Cost-shared marketing funding for BC food, beverage and agriculture businesses. |
| AgriInnovate | Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada | Repayable contributions for commercialising agricultural technology and processes. |
| Investment Agriculture Foundation of BC | IAF | Delivers several agriculture and food programs in BC, and is the place to ask which are open. |
| Energy and clean growth | ||
| CleanBC Industry Fund | Province of British Columbia | Funds projects that cut industrial emissions, paid for out of the carbon tax that industry pays. |
| CleanBC Go Electric | Province of British Columbia | Rebates for commercial electric vehicles and charging infrastructure. |
| FortisBC and BC Hydro efficiency rebates | FortisBC | Utility rebates for efficient equipment, lighting, heating and building upgrades. Quick money for spending you were likely doing anyway. |
| Energy Innovation Program | Natural Resources Canada | Federal funding for clean energy research, development and demonstration projects. |
| Regional and sector programs | ||
| PacifiCan Business Scale-up and Productivity | Pacific Economic Development Canada | The federal regional agency for BC, funding productivity, scale-up and community economic development. Some of it is repayable and some of it is not. |
| BC Manufacturing Jobs Fund | Province of British Columbia | Capital funding for manufacturing projects that create jobs, with a focus outside the Lower Mainland. |
| Creative BC | Funding and tax credit administration for film, television, music, publishing and interactive media. | |
| Destination BC co-operative marketing | Destination BC | Cost-shared marketing funding for tourism businesses and communities. |
| Rural Economic Diversification and Infrastructure Program | Province of British Columbia | Funds economic diversification in rural BC. Applicants are local governments, Indigenous communities and not-for-profits rather than businesses, so this is the door to knock on with your community, not on your own. |
| Programs for particular owners | ||
| Women Entrepreneurship Strategy | Government of Canada | Funding, ecosystem support and research aimed at women-owned businesses, delivered partly through WeBC in British Columbia. |
| Black Entrepreneurship Program | Government of Canada | Loans, knowledge support and ecosystem funding for Black-owned businesses. |
| Indigenous Entrepreneurship Program | NACCA | Non-repayable contributions alongside loans from Indigenous financial institutions, for Indigenous-owned businesses. |
| Futurpreneur | Futurpreneur Canada | Not a grant, but the closest thing to one for a new business owner aged 18 to 39: financing at a sensible rate with two years of mentoring attached. |
| Entrepreneurs with Disabilities Program | Community Futures | Loans, training and mentoring for entrepreneurs with disabilities or health-related barriers, delivered through local Community Futures offices. |
Before you apply
What every commercial lender asks for
The list barely changes between lenders. Having it ready on the first meeting shortens the process and improves the terms, because it tells the credit analyst the business is run properly.
- Financial statementsTwo to three years, prepared by an accountant. Notice to reader is usually enough for smaller requests; larger ones attract a review engagement.
- Interim figuresYear-to-date, no more than 90 days old, with the comparable period last year.
- A forecastTwelve to twenty-four months of cash flow, with the assumptions written down beside it.
- Aged receivables and payablesWho owes you, who you owe, and how late everything is.
- A debt scheduleEvery loan and lease: lender, original amount, balance, rate, payment and maturity.
- What the money is forThe purchase, the quote, the lease, the contract. In writing.
- How it gets repaidThe cash flow that services it, and what happens if sales fall short.
- SecurityWhat the lender can take: equipment, receivables, inventory, property, and almost always a personal guarantee.
- Personal informationNet worth statements and personal credit for each owner of any size.
- Corporate recordsArticles, the shareholder register, the shareholder agreement, and the leases.
Our free ready-made reports work out the measures a credit analyst calculates from these documents, and grade how your file will look before you hand it over.
We are not a lender, and the lenders here do not pay us.
This page is general information, not advice or a recommendation. We have no referral arrangement with the institutions listed, and inclusion is not an endorsement. Products, ownership, brands and eligibility change; confirm the details with the lender before you rely on them.
Where we arrange a loan, we act for you, and any fee a lender pays us is disclosed in writing in our Fee Letter before you commit to anything. See how we work.
A lender missing, or a link that no longer works? Email admin@lepstrategy.com.
Not sure which of these fits your situation? Ask us. We will tell you where we would start, even when it is not with us.