CSBFP in Numbers: Canada Small Business Financing Program Statistics & Terms

1. A record year for the program

In fiscal 2024–25, lenders registered 6,409 CSBFP loans worth close to $1.9 billion — the largest annual value in the program's history. Loan count rose 2.7% (+169 loans) and loan value rose 8.1% (+$141.7 million) versus 2023–24. The average loan was $294,067, up 5.3% year over year — well under the $1.15 million ceiling, which tells you the program is serving genuinely small borrowers, not just the largest eligible firms.

The program also issued 373 lines of credit worth close to $27.2 million in 2024–25, and collected $103.2 million in fee revenues.

Sources: ISED — Overview and Highlights 2024–25 · ISED — CSBFA Comprehensive Review Report 2019–2024

2. Who actually gets the money

Start-ups dominate — businesses operating less than one year received $1.4 billion, 74.1% of all loan value; the CSBFP is, in practice, Canada's start-up loan program.

Where the money goes: leasehold improvements were the largest use at roughly $1.2 billion (64.6% of value), followed by equipment at $350.9 million (18.6%). Working capital and intangible-asset loans — only made eligible in 2022 — still accounted for just $51.5 million (2.7%).

Where the borrowers are: Ontario, Alberta and Quebec accounted for 5,167 loans (80.6%) and $1.54 billion (82.0%) of lending.

Sources: ISED — Overview and Highlights 2024–25 · ISED — 2022 Changes to the CSBFP

3. The awareness gap

Only 16% of eligible small businesses that have not used the program were aware the CSBFP exists (up from 10% in 2018, but still low). Even among businesses that actually received a CSBFP loan, only 34% knew the program by name — most learned about it from their lender, at the point of application. Lender awareness, by contrast, is 97%.

Practical implication: whether a borrower gets CSBFP financing usually depends on whether their lender raises it — not on the borrower asking for it.

Sources: ISED — Borrower Awareness and Satisfaction Study 2023–2024

4. The terms that matter to borrowers today

Maximum loan $1.15 million per borrower — up to $1,000,000 in term loans plus a $150,000 line of credit for working capital.

Term-loan sub-limits: within the $1 million term loan, at most $500,000 for equipment and leasehold improvements, and at most $150,000 for intangible assets and working capital costs.

Interest-rate caps: floating-rate term loans capped at prime + 3%; fixed-rate term loans at the lender's single-family residential mortgage rate + 3%; lines of credit capped at prime + 5%. The caps include the program's 1.25% annual administration fee, which the lender pays to ISED and may build into the rate.

Registration fee: one-time 2% on the loan amount, payable by the borrower, and it can be financed as part of the loan.

Eligibility: businesses operating in Canada with gross annual revenues of $10 million or less; farming businesses are not eligible.

Eligible uses: real property, leasehold improvements, equipment (including vehicles), franchise purchase costs, intangible assets (e.g., trademarks, patents, goodwill, incorporation costs) and working capital (e.g., inventory, payroll, rent, software and website development, professional fees).

How the guarantee works: the federal government reimburses lenders up to 85% of eligible losses on defaulted loans; lenders — not ISED — make every credit decision; government coverage on a term loan can run up to 15 years.

Sources: ISED — CSBFA Comprehensive Review Report 2019–2024 · ISED — 2022 Changes to the CSBFP

5. What the Bank of Canada’s October 28, 2026 decision did to CSBFP pricing

On October 28, 2026, the Bank of Canada raised its policy rate by 25 basis points to 2.50% — its first increase since July 2023. The big banks raised their prime rates from 4.45% to 4.70%, effective October 29, 2026.

Because the CSBFP floating-rate ceiling is prime + 3%, the decision raised the maximum a lender may charge on a floating CSBFP term loan from 7.45% to 7.70% — and the line-of-credit ceiling from 9.45% to 9.70%. The Bank signalled further increases are possible; its next decision is December 9, 2026.

Sources: Bank of Canada — October 28, 2026 policy-rate press release · ISED — CSBFA Comprehensive Review Report 2019–2024

6. The 2022 rule changes borrowers still don't know about

Amendments in force July 4, 2022: maximum borrowing rose from $1 million to $1.15 million; the equipment and leasehold-improvement sub-limit rose from $350,000 to $500,000; intangible assets and working capital became eligible for the first time (up to $150,000 within a term loan); a new $150,000 line of credit was added; the window for financing past expenditures widened from 180 to 365 days before loan approval, and lenders got six months (up from three) to register a term loan.

Yet working capital and intangibles were still only 2.7% of 2024–25 loan value — the expansion has barely been used.

Sources: ISED — 2022 Changes to the CSBFP · ISED — Overview and Highlights 2024–25

7. What this means for applicants

1. Eligibility is not approval — the 85% federal guarantee reduces the lender's loss, but ISED plays no role in the credit decision; the lender still underwrites the business, which is why a complete, lender-grade application package matters even for a “government program.”
2. You are probably competing as a start-up — with 74.1% of loan value going to businesses under a year old, the files that stand out show credible market evidence, realistic start-up costs tied to eligible uses, and cash-flow projections that survive conservative assumptions.
3. Match the request to the sub-limits — applications stall when the ask doesn't fit the program's structure; structuring the financing (term loan + line of credit + other sources) around the caps is part of the application.
4. Price the loan at today's ceiling, not last month's — stress-test payments at the current prime + 3% ceiling of 7.70%, and consider that the Bank of Canada has flagged the possibility of further increases (next decision December 9, 2026).
5. Ask for the program by name — with only 16% of eligible businesses aware the CSBFP exists, borrowers who raise it directly, with a business plan and projections prepared to CSBFP requirements, start ahead.

Sources: ISED — CSBFA Comprehensive Review Report 2019–2024 · ISED — Overview and Highlights 2024–25 · Bank of Canada — October 28, 2026 policy-rate press release · ISED — Borrower Awareness and Satisfaction Study 2023–2024