OTTAWA — Mid-sized Canadian businesses that are strapped for cash because of COVID-19 can now apply through their own banks to get loans of up to $60 million from the federal government.
The loans, to be administered by the Business Development Bank of Canada, are part of a package of federal credit programs Finance Minister Bill Morneau promised in late March.
Companies in the oil industry that are facing particularly tough times because of plummeting oil prices have been waiting anxiously to see the terms of the loans, but the program is open to companies from any economic sector as long as they meet the qualifying terms.
That includes companies with revenues between $100 million and $500 million who were financially viable before the pandemic, but saw their operations negatively affected by the economic shutdown or falling oil and gas prices.
Loan amounts will fall between $12.5 million and $60 million, with the Business Development Bank of Canada covering 90 per cent and a company’s own financial institution the rest.
Ben Brunnen, the vice-president of fiscal and economic policy for the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers said this week the programs had the potential to help struggling companies but that there was frustration and anxiety in the oil sector at how long it was taking to begin.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 18, 2020.
