BDC 2025 Annual Report: Supporting More Entrepreneurs Than Ever, $11.5 Billion In New Financing And Investments

(MENAFN- GlobeNewsWire - Nasdaq) MONTREAL, Sept. 03, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC), the bank for Canada's entrepreneurs and the country's only development bank, published its 2025 Annual Report , highlighting how it is helping reverse the decline of entrepreneurship in Canada.

“The core of BDC's mission is to generate positive impacts to Canada's economy, and that starts with fuelling the creation and growth of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in every corner of the country, leaving no economic potential behind,” said Isabelle Hudon, President and CEO of BDC.

“While these are positive numbers, there is more work to be done. As Canada shifts its economy amid trade uncertainty, entrepreneurship remains challenging and fragile – there are 100,000 fewer entrepreneurs in Canada than 20 years ago despite a 28% growth in population. At the same time, 350,000 entrepreneurs lack access to the financing they need. This is a call to action for BDC, one that drives us to fully harness our role as Canada's development bank.”

Supporting the Canadian economy

Here are a few notable examples of what BDC did this past year to help reverse this trend and help grow Canada's economy:

• Record number of clients served: 107,345 entrepreneurs accessed a wide range of BDC's advisory services, financing, and capital, a new record. More importantly, this figure capped off a 47.4% increase in the number of clients served since fiscal 2021.
• Strong financing and investments: BDC provided $11.5 billion in new loans and investments to SMEs.
• Fuelling startups and high-potential companies: As Canada's most active venture capital investor in terms of number of transactions, BDC injected nearly $1 billion into its Growth Venture Fund and Growth Equity Partners program.
• Improving access to all types of entrepreneurs: BDC launched its new Community Banking team aiming to partner with 80 local, community-based lenders to reach more entrepreneurs outside of major urban areas, those with unconventional business models, little credit history, and from underserved groups. BDC's goal, including with its $800-million Business Accelerator Loan Program , is to help finance more than 100,000 new entrepreneurs over the next decade.
• Maximizing the potential of Indigenous and Black entrepreneurs: BDC created two $100-million platforms to support Indigenous and Black-led businesses, formed the Black Entrepreneurs Fund team, and conducted an ecosystem and community engagement process to shape the development and strategy of the Indigenous entrepreneurship envelope.
• Levelling the playing field in access to financing: BDC served a record number of women and Indigenous entrepreneurs, with increases of 11% and 18%, respectively, over fiscal 2024.
• Meeting entrepreneurs wherever they are: BDC grew its support to entrepreneurs outside of major urban centres in nearly every province, with notable growth in Manitoba (+24.47%), BC (+16.83%) and Yukon (+16.65%).
• Helping business become more productive: BDC rolled out its Data to AI solution to make artificial intelligence (AI) more accessible to small businesses.
• Offsetting the impacts of US tariffs: Late in the year, BDC launched a $500-million envelope called Pivot to Grow . It provides financing, advice and loan deferrals to SMEs likely to be financially impacted by US tariffs or the uncertainty they may create.
• Net income of $402M and Core net income of $492M: BDC remains a financially sustainable and autonomous Crown corporation while it continues to play its development bank role.

The Bank measures its impact on the Canadian economy through the GDP growth generated by its clients. Our financing and investments in fiscal 2025 will add an estimated $25 billion to Canada's GDP over the next five years. BDC's clients employ 1.4 million Canadians-roughly 6.7% of the country's active workforce-and produce annual revenues of $572 billion.

Taking on more risk

The smallest businesses, those with less than $2 million in annual sales, accounted for 68% of BDC's portfolio last year. This was the result of a strategic choice by the Bank to take on different types of risk, having tripled the number of small loans, from 5,970 in fiscal 2010 to 18,333 in fiscal 2025. In the past five years alone, BDC has increased the number of transactions to businesses with unconventional business models, which would be rated below BB+, by 10%.

BDC's mission

BDC's mission is to support Canadian entrepreneurs to build strong and resilient businesses and, in doing so, contribute to creating a more prosperous, competitive and sustainable Canada. Its corporate values – United for Entrepreneurs, Powered by People, and Courageously Impactful – are the building blocks of its corporate DNA. These values connect what the organization stands for to how it delivers on its mandate and corporate strategy.

About BDC: 80 years as Canada's bank for entrepreneurs

BDC is a partner of choice for all entrepreneurs looking to access the financing and advice they need to build their businesses and tackle the big challenges of our time. Our investment arm, BDC Capital, offers a wide range of risk capital solutions to help grow the most innovative firms. BDC's development role means we are in a state of perpetual evolution – wherever entrepreneurs go and whatever the Canadian economy needs – we will be there to help them defy the odds. 80 years later, that commitment remains very much alive. Our financing and investments in fiscal 2025 will add an estimated $25 billion to Canada's GDP over the next five years. We are one of Canada's Top 100 Employers and Canada's Best Diversity Employers and the first financial institution in Canada to receive the B Corp certification in 2013. For more information on our products and services and to consult free tools, templates and articles, visit bdc.ca or join BDC on social media .

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