a Different Kind of Loan
“loan”
For a lot of food and farm entrepreneurs, that word alone is enough to pause the conversation.
We understand why. Many of the people who come to us have been turned down by a bank, asked for collateral they don't have, or watched a "small" fee quietly grow into a big one. Some have watched it happen to a neighbour.
One founding purpose of the Fair Finance Fund is to offer an alternative to this system of at best inacessible, and at worst exploitative, capital. We're a non-profit lender, and we built our loans to work differently from what most people picture when they hear the word.
What a Loan From Us Looks Like
Flexible to Get In, Predictable to Pay Back
Most lenders open with one question: what can you put up as security? We want to know who are you, and what are you building?
Our eligibility is character-based. We read your financial statements, and we also look at your references and at the social and environmental impact of your business. We prioritise Indigenous, racialised, rural remote applicants, and others who have been systematically disadvantaged when it comes to traditional financing.
No collateral on loans up to $50,000 means you don't have to put your home or your equipment on the line to get started. And a grace period of up to three months gives a new walk-in cooler or greenhouse time to start earning before your first payment comes due.
Once the loan is in place, flexibility gives way to something debt-wary borrowers often value more: predictability. Your rate stays at 7.5% for all five years.
You Won't Be Doing It Alone
Every loan comes with 4 to 8 hours of free mentorship and business assistance from experts in food and farming. Whether it's support getting your financial planning in order, questions around marketing in the ever changing social media world, or putting the final touches on your business plan and vision.
We offer this because your loan succeeding is the whole point. We have no shareholders to answer to and no fees that grow when things get hard. When your business does well, so does the Fund.
Why We Lend Instead of Granting
A question we get often is, if we're a non-profit, why we do not just give grants?
Because a grant gets spent once. A loan comes back.
Our lending capital comes from community bonds: investments from people who want their money working in local food systems. 100% of that money goes to our clients. When a client repays, that capital comes back into the Fund to repay those investments and goes out again to the next farmer, baker, or food entrepreneur. That's why we call it repayable capital: money that keeps moving.
This cycle is also how we're building toward becoming self-sustaining, so the Fund can keep lending for decades, not just for as long as one funding cycle lasts. Your repayment helps someone else start.
Where We Lend, and Where We're Headed
We currently lend in Ontario and British Columbia, and we're actively working to bring the Fund to more provinces.
If you're building a food or farm business and want to talk through whether our financing fits, reach out. Our team is available to help answer any questions you have about the application process or how our organization operates.
Interested in purchasing a community bond to support local food and farm enterprises? Learn about our investment options.
