Every quarter we look at where requests are coming from, which deals the banks are passing on and how pricing is moving. This is a snapshot from our own pipeline across Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, not a forecast.
Where demand is coming from
- Energy services in Alberta and Saskatchewan: contractors with full order books and aging fleets, where bank appetite remains cautious.
- Industrial real estate: owner-occupiers buying their building before a lease renewal, often on a closing date the bank cannot meet.
- Succession: founders in their sixties selling to management or family, with the buyer needing a bridge to a bank take-out.
- Agriculture and food processing: seasonal working capital that a static bank line cannot follow.
Pricing
Private credit pricing in Canada tracks the Bank of Canada policy rate with a lag and a spread for risk. When bank prime moves, bridge and asset-based pricing follow within a quarter. What matters more than the headline rate is the all-in cost including fees over the real term of the loan, and whether the exit is on schedule.
What we are watching
Bank policy changes on commercial real estate concentration, the pace of refinancing on maturing commercial mortgages, and CRA collections activity, which tends to drive bridge demand six to nine months later. If you are planning a transaction in the next year, start the financing conversation before you sign the purchase agreement, not after.
Have a situation like this? Tell us about the deal and a principal will respond within two business days. Cascade lends to businesses only, in Canadian dollars, and every rate we quote is an annual rate.
