Other Banks, Credit Unions, & Financial Institutions HASCAP Loans

If you are like many Canadian businesses, particularly small businesses involved in travel and tourism, you have your banking relationship with a local credit union or financial institution other than Canada’s Big 6 Banks.

The government has stated that they expect to open up the HASCAP Loan program with its 100% guarantee to highly-affected sector companies by February 15th, 2021. While this date may cause even more angst for many Canadian small businesses, we hope you can hang on until more details are available.

To get a sense as to what to expect, consider these eligibility requirements from the BDC:

More details about HASCAP loans from smaller banks:

Loan Terms and Details

• “Competitive” loan rates [some institutions have published 4% for their HASCAP loans]
• Amortization up to 10 years
• No principal repayments for 12 months from the date of loan advance.
• The maximum finance amount, (including qualifying for terms), will be based on the HASCAP terms and conditions, business revenues and the institution’s standard lending terms

Eligibility Requirements

• Your Lender is your primary business banking institution
• Be a Canadian business directly impacted by COVID-19.
• Must have experienced 50% revenue decrease in any three (3) of the past eight (8) months evidenced through their application AND receipt of Government subsidies under either the Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy (CERS) or Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS).
• Businesses that are eligible for CERS/CEWS must have applied for these relief programs before they can apply for HASCAP.
• The program is intended to exclusively fund the operational cash flow needs of the Business or any of its operating subsidiaries (i.e. payroll, rent, utilities, taxes, scheduled debt repayments and other fixed costs) including any costs incurred in retrofitting its operations to ensure its continued viability.

Ineligible Businesses

• Businesses not economically dependent on non-commercial sources such as direct gov’t funding or private donations. (First Nations owned businesses and Not-for-Profit organizations are eligible to apply).
• Government organizations or bodies, or entities which a government owns equity interest.
• Non-Profit, unions, charitable, religious or fraternal organizations or entities in which such organizations own equity interest, or entity is a fundraising vehicle for a charity except registered T2 or T3010 corporations that generate a portion of revenue from sales of goods or services.
• Non-Publicly traded entity owned by any current member of Parliament or Senate of Canada.
• Entities that promote violence, incite hatred or discriminate on the basis of race, national or ethnic origin, color, religion, sex, age or mental or physical disability or operate a sexually exploitive business.