Ontario financial institutions and government join forces to boost local businesses and do good in communities

April 11, 2016| News release

TORONTO, Apr. 11, 2016 – A new financial product being offered through a handful of banks and credit unions in Hamilton, London and Ottawa will give qualified business owners the opportunity to lower the interest rate on their business loans or lines of credit, and provide free assistance with hiring. This partnership is expected to significantly impact the three communities by offering disadvantaged population groups improved access to local employment opportunities.

“Rate Drop Rebate is a financial product that rewards Ontario’s business owners for the steps they take to grow their operations, helping them save time and money and improve cash flow with a cash back interest rebate,” explains Bill Young, business entrepreneur, philanthropist and founder of Social Capital Partners, the social finance organization that developed Rate Drop Rebate.

“Rate Drop Rebate helps businesses that hire people facing barriers to employment. This is expected to help generate up to 1,100 new employment opportunities in Ontario, contributing to a stronger local economy for all.”

“Rate Drop Rebate is an excellent way to connect small businesses with attractive financing terms and to help increase employment options for people with disabilities and others who face barriers when looking for work”

For every new employee hired through Rate Drop Rebate and retained for a minimum of six months, business owners will receive a cash back rebate equivalent to a 1% reduction in the interest rate on their term loan up to a maximum interest rate reduction of 4%, or the actual interest paid over six months on the business’s line of credit up to a maximum of two years interest-free.

The Government of Ontario’s Ministry of Economic Development, Employment and Infrastructure is partnering with Alterna Savings, CIBC, First Ontario Credit Union, Libro Credit Union and Meridian to deliver Rate Drop Rebate.

“Rate Drop Rebate is an excellent way to connect small businesses with attractive financing terms and to help increase employment options for people with disabilities and others who face barriers when looking for work,” says Brad Duguid, Minister of Economic Development, Employment and Infrastructure.

“We are proud to partner with these forward-thinking financial institutions on Rate Drop Rebate. Together, we are promoting a culture of inclusion and strengthening our economy.” Those facing barriers to employment include students with limited work experience, long-term unemployed, older unemployed, people with disabilities, newcomers to Canada and unemployed Indigenous persons.

Based on a program by Social Capital Partners that placed 480 people in jobs, this unique product links a social purpose to a financial product by bringing together business borrowers, financial institutions, and the Ontario government to help individuals facing barriers to employment.

To qualify, business owners must:

  • Run a for-profit business with a physical address that lies within the boundaries of the City of Hamilton (including Ancaster, Stoney Creek, and Binbrook), City of London (including Middlesex County), or City of Ottawa.
  • Have or need a term loan or line of credit, which must be obtained through a partnering financial institution.
  • Be currently hiring or have an anticipated need for an entry-level position(s) with a minimum of 20 working hours per week.
  • Fill the position through the Rate Drop Rebate hiring channel between now and October 31, 2017 and retain the new hire for a minimum of six months.
  • Register for Rate Drop Rebate by April 30, 2017. “Small businesses are significant contributors to the economic development of the communities in which they are established. In addition, they help stimulate growth by offering local employment opportunities,” explains Young.

Rate Drop Rebate Recruitment Liaisons will be screening all job candidates to ensure they meet the job requirements and are the right fit for the company. “This is especially helpful for a business that might not have an existing HR department,” Young says.

Community Finance Economic policy Labour & skills Leveraging capital Local economies Small business

Share with a friend

Related reading

VideoThe Ownership Solution

Watch the video: Why would a company sell to its employees?

Canada is facing a $2-trillion business handoff. What if employees owned more of it? In this video, our Director of Policy Dan Skilleter explains why a company would sell to its own employees, how it happens and who stands to benefits. Spoiler alert: employee-owned companies are shown to be 8-12% more productive, share more wealth with their workers, keep businesses Canadian-owned and shore up the resilience of local communities and the broader economy.

BlogThe Ownership Solution

How Canada can curb the serial acquisitions quietly reshaping our economy

In many cases, threats to the affordability of everyday goods and services are the byproduct of what competition experts call serial acquisitions—a pattern of larger firms buying up a series of smaller players to try and corner the market. As Michelle Arnold and Kiran Gill explain, a fair and competitive economy does not emerge by accident. The Competition Bureau's proposed Merger Enforcement Guidelines will play an important role in preventing bigger firms from creating unfair playing fields that hurt Canadian small businesses, workers and consumers. The next step for the bureau should be aggressive enforcement of the new guidelines.

Submission

From Guidelines to Action: Feedback on the Proposed Merger Enforcement Guidelines

The Competition Bureau's proposed Merger Enforcement Guidelines represent meaningful progress against trends towards corporate consolidation in Canada. In our formal feedback submission to the bureau, Social Capital Partners outlines that we strongly support the new guidelines. However, we believe that the operationalization of these guidelines will be the real test of their impact. Guidance documents shape expectations, but enforcement outcomes shape behaviour. Serial acquirers are sophisticated actors who model regulatory risk into their strategies. To succeed, the bureau must demonstrate visible capacity to track, analyze and challenge roll-up patterns that are driving up prices and sacrificing quality and service in key sectors.

Skip to content