Strong year for Canada’s small businesses

The resiliency of Canadian small and medium-sized enterprises has resulted in another successful year for the Business Development Bank of Canada.

The bank experienced a 6.7% increase in the number of clients it serves. The total has grown to more than 30,000 small enterprises across Canada.

For the period ending March 31, 2014, the bank:

• disbursed $4 billion in new loans to small businesses across the country;
• authorized $154.8 million in both direct and indirect venture capital investments, as well as an additional $210 million in authorized fund investments as part of the Venture Capital Action Plan; and
• earned $432.6 million in net income, of which a dividend of $54.6 million will be paid to the Government of Canada and the balance reinvested in Canadian entrepreneurs.

Providing small loans to new businesses is “absolutely essential to the grassroots and future health of Canada’s small and medium-sized business community,” says Jean-René Halde, president and CEO of BDC, in the bank’s 2014 Annual Report.

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