CIBC now accepting applications for the Highly Affected Sectors Credit Availability Program

CIBC today announced that it is now accepting applications for the Highly Affected Sectors Credit Availability Program (HASCAP), a new federal government loan program for small and medium-sized businesses continuing to face impacts related to COVID-19. Existing CIBC business clients may be eligible for fixed-rate loans of up to $1 million, with interest-only payments for the first 12 months.

The loans, ranging from $25,000 to $1 million, are available for existing CIBC business clients, providing funds for ongoing operational cash-flow needs.

"We're here and ready to continue our support for Canadian entrepreneurs through financial impacts from the pandemic," said Laura Dottori-Attanasio, Group Head, Personal and Business Banking. "This additional loan program from the Government of Canada is another way to ensure a degree of continuity for hardworking small and medium-sized businesses across the country that have been hard hit by COVID-19. We're committed to continuing to be there for our clients, including facilitating access to these key additional funds." 

To be eligible, clients will need to have experienced a 50 per cent decrease in revenue and have already used the Canada Employee Wage Subsidy (CEWS) or the Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy (CERS) for three months, unless they weren't eligible for those programs.

Clients may also need to provide documentation as required by the government. If clients haven't applied for CEWS or CERS yet, they can do so now and be eligible for HASCAP after.

Full eligibility requirements can be found at the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) HASCAP page, and CIBC clients can find more information at the CIBC Business Recovery page.