The Canada Small Business Financing Program

Small Business Financing Program In Canada

First Published: EntrepreneurJourney.com Published on: Nov 7, 2010

Living in Canada, you have a great opportunity to start your own business. When you do, you may want to look at government help to build your business as time goes on. If you are looking for government help, then one of the main programs available to you is the Canada Small Business Financing Program. This program was created to increase the availability of loans for establishing, expanding, modernizing and improving small businesses within Canada. The way that it does this is by encouraging banks and other financial companies to make money available for small business. Much like the Small Business Administration, the CSBFP will share part of the financial risk with the person trying to get the loan. This program can then help you get up to $500,000.

When you get a loan through the CSBFP, the loan will cover roughly 90 per cent of the costs associated with buying or improving on land or property, purchasing leased property and equipment and purchasing new equipment or improving the equipment that you already have.

In order to be eligible for this program, the small business must be operating for a profit in Canada and must have annual gross revenue of less than $5 million. If you want to apply for this program, you need to apply directly with a bank or financial institution through the CSBFP, and the bank or financial institution will be full accountable for approval of the loan.

The CSBFP was created through the Canada Small Business Financing Act in April of 1999. It was created to build upon the extensive success of the Small Business Loans Act. The objectives of the act was to streamline loan administration and improve the cost-recovery ability of a business, while extending financing to small and medium sized businesses that may not get a loan otherwise. This then helps the economy by having more people working, more businesses in the country and more people working hard to make their business a success. The CSBFP makes it easier for these small businesses to get their loans from banks and financial institutions because they share the risk with the small business owner. Essentially, the CSBFP is the co-signor of the loan with you, no different than a family member of friend would be.

The objectives of the CSBFP come down to the following:

1. Help new businesses get off the ground and give the companies already started to make improvements and expand upon their past success.
2. To make it easier for businesses to get loans they may not have been able to get previously.
3. To promote economy activity and job creation in Canada.

How successful is the program? Each year, the program will provide 10,000 loans to small businesses in Canada, averaging $1 billion per year in total.

While you know the eligibility requirements for the program in Canada, there are some businesses that are not allowed to take advantage of it. These are farming businesses, which can get their own support from Agri-Food Canada, which has a similar program in place.

If you want to get a loan through the CSBFP, you can get a loan for up to $500,000 and no more than $350,000 can be used to buy lease equipment or improve upon leased property.

The program is provided through financial institutions and you can ask them about it when applying for a loan. It is very important to remember that Industry Canada, which operates the CSBFP does not accept or refuse loan applications and has no part in the decision process, that is all banks and financial institutions.

If you want to apply for the program, or learn more about it, you can contact Industry Canada at:

Small Business Financing Directorate

Industry Canada

1.866.959.1699 (phone)

1.613.952.0290 (fax)

www.ic.gc.ca/csbfp

If you are curious about other programs in place to help you, here are just a few:

Community Futures Development Corporations: Funded by the government, these corporations operate not-for-profit to provide loans, training, support and more to businesses located in rural communities across the country.

Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency: The government also operates this program and it provides interest-free loans and other opportunities to businesses that are located in the Maritime provinces.

Western Economic Diversification Canada: This program is operated through the government and it sponsors loan programs for those who are located in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

The Business Development Bank of Canada: This bank program is run through the government of Canada and it provides small businesses with low-cost consulting, venture capital and flexible solutions to financial problems.

Human Resources and Social Development Canada: This federal development operates several programs to help unemployed and underemployed Canadians by offering entrepreneurial start-up funding, training subsidies and hiring subsidies.

When you live in Canada, there are many opportunities for you to attempt to get work within Canada by starting your own business. When you start your own business, sometimes you need a helping hand and that is where the government comes in. Through the Canadian Small Business Financing Program, and other programs in pace, you can get the help you need to start your business and see it become successful in the future. It is easy to apply for these programs and generally you should be able to get approval. One of the great things about these programs is not only can you get money you may not have received previously, but you will also get loans on favorable terms with long repayment schedules, low monthly payments and very low interest, which makes it easier for you to pay back the loan.

As a Canadian, you have the right to start your own business, so look at some of these programs to see what is going to work for you and what you can do to make your business successful in the future.

CI Financial, Scotia Bank, and Sun Life

CI, Sun Life, and Scotia

First Published: ADawnJournal.com Published on: Aug 24, 2008

Last Friday's talk of the town was CI Financial's possible merger or acquisition news. CI confirmed that over the past few months, it has had discussions with a number of parties for possible strategic combinations.

News broke out on Friday stating CI was looking into buying Scotia Bank's mutual fund business. In return, Scotia wanted a stake in CI.

CI shares were halted on Friday morning on the Toronto Stock Exchange when the news broke. Later on, CI's shares were up 5% and total shares traded doubled than the day before.

Sun Life Financial holds a 37% stake in CI. In case this transaction goes through, CI has to issue a considerable chunk of its shares (estimated 25% but Scotia wants more) to Scotia. It's hard to predict what's going on in Sun Life's mind, but it makes sense to think that they may not be happy about this deal.

CI is Canada's second largest fund manager. CI made many successful and unsuccessful bids in the past. Read CI Financial's Unsolicited, Hostile Bid to know more about this.

New Brim Credit Cards Bring New Perspectives

Brim Credit Cards Canada

Brim Financial is launching new credit cards on the Canadian market that will change the credit card game. These cards have features and flexibilities never seen before in Canada. Today, I will touch base on some of the features. Please visit my video on this as well to learn more.

Rewards Structure – There are no limits on how or when you can redeem. Also, there are no specific categories to earn accelerated points. If you shop more at the same stores, the earn rate increases.

Installment Payment Options – Brim will offer the ability to set up install payments towards a purchase that can be paid in installments at a set lower interest rate (they call it one time installment fee) without affecting the rest of the credit limit. 

Free Boingo Global Wi-Fi – Access to 1 million Boingo Wi-Fi hotspots across the globe. A neat perk that would come in handy when you travel.

0% Foreign Transaction Fee – This is one of the most sought after features on Canadian credit cards. Especially since the Marriott Rewards & Amazon credit cards offered by Chase (that provided no foreign currency fee) are no longer available in Canada.

Travel Insurances Provided by Reputable Canadian Provider – Another feature, which is my favourite, is that the Brim World Elite MasterCard offers full travel insurances (Trip Cancellation, Hotel/Motel Burglary, Travel Medical, etc.) by a reputable Canadian insurance provider. This is unlike Scotia Amex Gold and many other Canadian travel cards serviced by the same insurance company where the provider has bad ratings when it comes to fulfill claims.

Lounge Access – Brim’s higher-end cards will provide lounge access through Lounge Key. However, it is not clear how many visits will be included or it’s just the membership they will offer.

And packed with much more features (including real-time payment clearing to open up available credit limit without waiting 2-3 days), it may sound like that these new Brim Credit Cards are too good to be true. We will need to wait and see when the cards come out.

Brim’s website (https://brimfinancial.com) is accepting applications, so when I applied it told me that they will contact me once they start processing my application. I do have a video on Brim and here is the link you can follow to watch: 

How To Market Your Business On The Cheap

Marketing Your Business Cheap

As an entrepreneur, you are under the gun to succeed because you have put not only your reputation, but your financial future on the line. As a result, you need to find a way to reach customers without spending too much. You don’t have the marketing budget of Coca-Cola, so don’t try to market like them. You need to find a way to market yourself a at low cost, so you can maximize your profits. Getting the most customers, for the lowest amount, is the goal you should set for yourself. So, what do you need to do to market yourself to your customers?

• Provide excellent service and encourage word-of-mouth advertising. When you do this, you are using the best form of advertising, which is word-of-mouth. People trust their friends and family and if those people tell them that you do great work or sell excellent products, that can mean more than a $2 million Super Bowl commercial. Offer your customers deals on future purchases for the business they bring in from their friends and family and always be there for your customers with great service. 
• Forget about newspaper advertising and television advertising, it is too expensive and it doesn’t always work that well. Instead, advertise with promotional gifts. This way you are giving your customers something they can use and wear, while they advertise your company. It works like this, your customer buys something and you give them a free t-shirt with your company name on it. They wear that shirt when they are out and they are a walking billboard for you. People see your company name and logo and the more they see it, the greater the brand awareness is. 
• Go out and find your customers. You don’t need to wait for your customers to come to you, so why not go to them? Bring brochures about your business and go door-to-door if you have to. That shows your customers you are willing to do the leg work for their business and that will earn you respect, which is vitally important. 
• Find ways to out-do your competitors through sponsorship. Show your customers that you care about the people in the community by sponsoring charitable events and offering money or your services to help. You can provide money to churches, charities, schools, animal shelters and community events. That not only gets your name out there, but the more people see it, the more they will recognize you and that will help you make more money from your customers.

Marketing yourself and your business is not always cheap or easy, but by using these methods you can save money and gain customers. You want to get loyal customers because a loyal customer can be worth as many as 10 non-loyal customer. Even if the loyal customer does not spend as much each visit, they will keep coming back and keep recommending your business to others. So market your company properly, get loyal customers and move into the future with your business.
First Published: EntrepreneurJourney.com Published on: Oct 30, 2010

CIBC Air Canada AC Conversion Card Ends Manufactured Spending

CIBC Air Canada AC Conversion Card Ends 

Manufactured spending is one of the vehicles travel hackers use to generate points. This is simply manufacturing credit card spending, instead of real spending to create transactions that generates points and later on to deposit the money back into the account.

I am not going into the detail of manufactured spending. The CIBC Air Canada AC Conversion Visa Prepaid Card was one of the easiest ways to create manufactured spending in Canada.

The AC Conversion card had a feature that let you load Canadian dollars from other credit cards and unload Canadian dollars from CIBC bank machines at no cost. This would create transactions on the credit cards you are loading from to generate points.

Initially the limit was $3,000 a day, then it was reduced to $2,000 a day. When card management found out what’s going on, they reduced it $100 per day because they were bleeding money paying other credit card fees.

In the interim, many people got points and miles millionaires utilizing the loophole. It was like a dream come true for travel hackers to easily generate points using the AC Conversion card.

However, now CIBC Air Canada AC Conversion Card has decided that they still can’t afford to give away $100 per days as they can’t recoup the expenses and they are closing the loophole beginning April 13, 2018. After this date, Canadian currencies are no longer allowed to load and unload. You can load other supported currencies, however. If you try to load other currencies and unload Canadian dollars, the machines will dispense US$. So it will no longer make sense to use this card to create manufactured spending and the loophole that existed for many years will be sealed.

If you would like to watch my video on this, click on this link.

CIBC AC Air Canada Credit Card Ends

On my YouTube channel, you will find more videos like this.