Up to $500,000 To open, expand or buy your restaurant.

Most restaurant operators we work with qualify for between $200,000 and $500,000 through the CSBFP. $500,000 is the program ceiling for leasehold improvements, equipment and intangible assets, with up to $150,000 of working capital inside the same structure. If your project includes buying the building, the ceiling is higher, so tell us early and we will quote the right number.

A federal program that helps small businesses borrow through banks and credit unions by guaranteeing a large share of the loan for the lender. That guarantee is what makes restaurant lending workable for a bank. To qualify you must be a for-profit Canadian business with under $10 million in annual revenue.

• Leasehold improvements, such as building out your kitchen or dining room
• Equipment, from ovens and fryers to point of sale
• Furniture and fixtures
• Intangible assets and working capital costs, including franchise fees

The Government of Canada program page

This is the single thing operators get wrong most often, and it costs people deals. Your equity injection is cash you put into the project. Your net worth is what you are worth on paper, and it does not need to be liquid. Home equity, a vehicle and other illiquid assets all count toward it. The threshold lenders look at is a share of the loan, not a share of your total project cost, which is a much smaller number than most people assume. If you have been told you cannot qualify because you do not have enough cash, it is worth a second look.

Two clocks run, and they are worth separating. The first is ours: assembling the plan, the model and the document package. That one moves at the speed documents come back from you and your accountant, and it is the part we can compress. The second is the lender's own credit process, which varies by institution and by how busy their queue is, and which nobody outside the bank controls. We will give you a realistic read on both once we have seen your file. What we will not do is quote you an average that has nothing to do with your deal.

If you are a for-profit Canadian business under $10 million in revenue, or pre-revenue, and you are opening, expanding or buying a restaurant, you are likely in scope. Beyond that, lenders look at credit history, the equity you are putting in, and your lease. The pre-qualification questions take about a minute and will tell you where you stand.

No, and be careful of anyone who says otherwise. The credit decision belongs to the lender. What we control is the quality and completeness of what lands on the credit team's desk, and the choice of which lender sees it. That is what most declined applications were missing, and it is why every file we have submitted so far has been funded.

A written business plan, a formula-linked financial model, a use-of-funds breakdown, the full document package, the lender match, and us dealing with the bank through to funding.

You can try, and some people do. Plenty of our clients came to us after a DIY application was declined. Here is what AI alone misses:

• Credit teams can tell. Underwriters read stacks of restaurant files, and a generic plan reads as generic.
• Lender appetite changes constantly: loan-to-value, credit thresholds, who is lending to restaurants this month. We match you on what is true today.
• The plan is one piece. Underwriters also test the model, the capex, the lease, your net worth and the source of every dollar of equity.
• Like using a lawyer, it costs far less than one expensive mistake.

That is common and it is fine. We work with lenders across the major banks and credit unions, and different ones weigh credit, equity and lease terms differently. We will point your file at the ones most likely to say yes to it.

A CSBFP term loan can finance the purchase or improvement of commercial property, new or used equipment, leasehold improvements, and intangible assets and working capital costs. In practice, for a restaurant, that is most of a build.

• Buildout of a dining room, bar or prep kitchen
• Kitchen equipment, bar fridges, ovens, point of sale
• Interior renovations to a leased space
• Franchise fees and opening inventory
• Commercial kitchen or delivery vehicles

Rates are set by your financial institution within program caps, and can be floating or fixed. For a floating term loan the maximum is the lender's prime lending rate plus 3%. For a fixed term loan it is the lender's residential mortgage rate for that term plus 3%. For a line of credit the maximum is prime plus 5%. Where there is room to negotiate inside those caps, we will.

A location secured or a lease in place is one of the program's requirements, and lease term matters more than most people expect, because the loan amortises over it. Five plus five, or ten years, is the shape you want. Come to us before you sign and we can tell you what the financing will support, which is a better order to do this in. If you are still searching, we work with restaurant real estate brokers and can make an introduction.

Across Canada. The CSBFP is a federal program and the process is remote friendly. We are based in Toronto and are most active in the Greater Toronto Area, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Montreal and Ottawa-Gatineau, with files in Winnipeg, Halifax and Quebec City as well. Montreal, Ottawa and Quebec City are handled in French or English.

Yes, and the difference matters. An asset purchase requires an appraisal, and the appraised value has to support the purchase price. You inherit the lease rather than negotiating it, and the seller's historical financials are mandatory: two years of statements, corporate tax returns and notices of assessment. We will argue the case that the business performs better under you, but the historicals still have to be there.

Often, yes. Under the Canada Small Business Financing Program a lender can include expenditures made within 365 days before the date the loan is approved, or conditionally approved. So leasehold improvements and equipment you paid for in the last year can be financed, and that capital comes back into the business. What counts is when you paid: anything paid more than 365 days before approval is outside the program.

Read the program guidelines