BDC announces $100M in loans to support rural entrepreneurs

The Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) has announced $100 million in new financing for business owners in remote and rural communities.

The Community Futures Network of Canada (CFNC), a group of regional non-profits financed by the federal government, will provide another $100 million and manage all the loans on behalf of BDC. 

The loans will range from about $50,000 to $500,000, with BDC and CFNC each contributing half of the debt. The money will target business owners in places where entrepreneurship rates are high despite limited financing options. According to BDC, which provided $57.2 billion in business loans last year, 17 per cent of rural residents were entrepreneurs in 2024 versus 12 per cent in urban centres.

Those numbers hint at a deep entrepreneurial streak in rural Canada, but one often limited by a lack of financing. “Rural entrepreneurship is extremely, extremely challenging,” said Ken Coates, a professor emeritus at the University of Saskatchewan who studies regional economies in Canada. Coates said common hurdles business owners face in cities—limited access to capital, difficulty recruiting and retaining skilled workers, and a small market to sell to—are magnified several times over in rural areas.

The new financing, announced Wednesday, builds on BDC’s Community Banking initiative, launched in November 2024, which connects the federal development bank with credit unions, Indigenous-led lenders and other community-based institutions to reach entrepreneurs who struggle to access traditional financing. In June, BDC teamed up with First Nations Bank of Canada to increase lending in Indigenous communities with $100 million in financing each year. The rural financing initiative serves what CEO Isabelle Hudon described as BDC’s mandate to unlock overlooked potential.

Miguel Barrieras, head of community banking at BDC, said partnering with CFNC expands the bank’s reach into small towns where it doesn’t have a physical presence. “We can, on a combined basis, reach a lot more people,” said Barrieras, “and do it in a more efficient way for the entrepreneur.” 

The CFNC was created in the 1980s to fill those gaps with loans and advisory services in places where banks had little presence. Today, the organization typically serves communities with fewer than 50,000 people. Each office is guided by a volunteer board that tailors lending and training to local needs. Last year, the network disbursed more than $375 million in loans across Canada.

With the organization’s loans capped at $150,000 each, BDC’s financing means the regional lending network can write much larger cheques to entrepreneurs. “Pairing our grassroots presence with BDC’s capital lets us double the resources we can put in the hands of entrepreneurs,” said CFCN president Troy Dungate. 

Dungate said the organizations hope to renew the financing once the $200 million is allocated, which they expect to happen in the next year.