According to the Canadian Bankers Association, Canadian banks serve more than three million self-employed, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across Canada and authorized more than $254.6 billion in credit to these customers as of December 2019.

Renowned for its stability through the 2007-2009 global financial crisis, Canada’s financial system is being tested once again with the current economic turmoil from the COVID-19 pandemic, which has created tremendous strain and financial hardships on franchising and franchised businesses. In response to these conditions, Canadian financial institutions are working directly with individual and small business customers to create tailored support plans to help them manage the financial turmoil, overcome financial challenges, and build bridges to a stronger future.

Learn how COVID-19 has impacted Canadian banks and their lending programs. What programs and services have banks introduced to serve SMEs and how can they be accessed? What is the impact of the pandemic on their loan books and have risk tolerances changed? Have banks changed how they will lend and for what they will lend? Do banks foresee a rise in loan losses as government support programs taper off and will lenders tighten loan approval requirements or make changes to certain lines of businesses?