• Canadian citizens, Permanent Residents or Convention Refugees/Protected persons with Notice of Decisions who are at least 18 years old and legally able to work in Canada

• Residents of Ontario

• Individuals with limited or not-so-great credit who are unable to qualify for a loan from financial institutions or other lenders (We will assess this on an individual basis, considering your income, debt and other factors.)

• Individuals who are up-to-date and not owing taxes to the Canada Revenue Agency, child support to the Family Responsibility Office, or able to provide proof of ongoing payments for at least three (3) consecutive months

• Individuals who are not in active consumer proposal or bankruptcy, or who have been discharged for at least six (6) months

For a small business loan, you can apply for up to a maximum of $10,000*.

*The final approved loan amount is determined by the Loan Review Committee.

• There is a one-time administrative fee of 5% added to the approved loan amount at the time of disbursal e.g. $250 on a $5,000 approved loan. This amount can be paid upfront or included as part of the loan and repaid monthly.

•  Approved clients will be required to open an account with our banking partner, Alterna Savings, and pay a one-time membership fee of $15. This amount will be returned to the client when they close the account.

•  There is also a monthly bank account charge which will depend on the type of account opened.

• A Non-sufficient Funds (NSF) fee may be charged when you do not have insufficient funds to cover your loan payment on or before the due date.

The interest rate is prime plus 1.25%. (Prime is subject to change and determines the overall interest rate).

No, however you may find information on grants at https://www.canada.ca/en/government/grants-funding.

For a business loan, you have up to three years to repay.

Our loans are open, which means you can pay them back early without additional fees or interest. Interest will be calculated up to the time you decide to pay off the loan if it’s before the given term.

• Proof of income, e.g. copy of pay stub
• Credit report and score from Equifax
• Notice of Assessment from Canada Revenue Agency
• Written Business Plan and Cash Flow Projections
• Business registration, if registered
• Two pieces of valid photo IDs (e.g. Driver’s Licence, Passport or Immigration Documents)-Health Card is not a valid ID
• Proof of residence, e.g. utility bill, bank statement etc.
  

*Please contact us if you have difficulty submitting any of the above documents.

*If you don’t have a written business plan, we provide business training and coaching for eligible applicants to help you refine your business plan.

We strive to support a wide variety of business ideas, however, there are a few instances where we will not be able to approve your application.
Any business deemed to be harmful in any way will be ineligible. This includes (but is not limited to) businesses that:
• Engage in illegal activities
• Violate The Canadian Human Rights Act and/or The Ontario Human Rights Code
• Are contrary to ACCESS’s values and mission
• Are prohibited by our financial partners

As our aim is to help small entrepreneurs, we don’t fund operations owned by large companies such as franchises and multi-level marketing businesses.

*If you’d like to confirm if your business will be accepted before you apply, please call us to discuss your idea or plan.

The loan can only be used to pay for business expenses and not outstanding personal or business debt. 

Once a loan is approved, we work with our banking partner, Alterna Savings, to disburse the funds. The client will open a bank account with Alterna through which the loan will be repaid. The loan payment activity is reported by Alterna to Equifax on a regular basis until the loan is fully paid off. If the loan is kept in good standing, along with the other financial obligations the client has, it will help improve their overall credit history and scores.