Export Development Canada Business Credit Availability Program (BCAP)
COVID relief: Access to short-term working capital for Canadian businesses
Export Development Canada (EDC) Business Credit Availability Program (BCAP) helps qualifying businesses impacted by COVID-19 with cash flow term loans up to $6.25 million to help with short-term liquidity to cover critical business continuity expenses. The program is available through ATB for eligible mid and large-sized ATB business clients.
Joint ATB and EDC loan program to help with short-term liquidity
Flexible term loan
EDC BCAP provides eligible businesses with access to loans of up to $6.25 million, with up to five years to repay.
Backed by a partial (80%) guarantee from EDC
With EDC sharing in the loan risk, ATB is able to provide access to additional capital and help more Alberta businesses during these challenging times.
EDC BCAP product features
| Amount | Term loan of up to $6.25 million CAD with the maximum loan amount dependent on business size, or Revolving line of credit between $1 million and $6.25 million CAD if your current ATB borrowings are $5 million or more. |
| Guarantee | EDC guarantee of 80% of the loan value, renewed annually |
| EDC guarantee fee | 1.8% of the authorized loan limit annually |
| Interest rate | Fixed or variable, based on ATB's prime rate |
| Term | 1 to 5 years |
| Repayment | Repayable in full at the end of the term |
Apply for EDC BCAP
If you have an ATB team member you regularly deal with, please reach out to them for assistance. If not, our Client Care Team is available to help.
Frequently Asked Questions
The Government of Canada announced the availability of the EDC BCAP to help Canadian businesses impacted by COVID-19. Eligible applicants can access up to $6.25 million CAD in short-term liquidity to cover operating expenses (such as rent and payroll) and working capital needs (such as inventory).
To qualify, ATB business clients will need to meet the following requirements:
- Be a Canadian business in operation as of March 1, 2020, that has been impacted by COVID-19
- Be an ATB business client as of March 1, 2020
- Be a viable business as of March 1, 2020 (prior to any COVID-19 impact)
- Have intentions to continue business operations
- New facilities only (cannot be used to support an existing facility)
- Loans must be used to sustain operations (not for dividends, non-standard debt repayment or refinancing)
- Meet the necessary requirements that form part of the application process
The following businesses are not eligible to apply:
- Government organizations or bodies (except for First Nation owned businesses, which are eligible to apply), or government-owned entities
- Unions, charitable, religious or fraternal organizations or entities owned by such organizations except T2 or T3010 corporations that generate a portion of revenue from sales of goods or services
- Entities owned by individuals holding political office at the federal level
- Entities owned by individuals, any federal Member of Parliament or Senator
- Entities that promote violence, incite hatred or discriminate on the basis of race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age or mental or physical disability
The EDC BCAP is intended to help with short-term liquidity and working capital needs over the next 12 months (e.g., recurring operating expenses, buying inventory, meeting accounts payable, covering delayed receivables or other needs due to cyclical cash flow).
Authorized use of BCAP funding was expanded by the Federal government in January 2021, and now also includes:
- Regular scheduled interest and principal payments
- Temporary excesses advanced after March 1, 2020
- Payments on lease, equipment and supplier financing
- Loan payments that have been deferred since March 1, 2020, provided amortization has not been extended and the payments are part of the ordinary course of business
- Capital expenditure that are part of the ordinary course of business