Equipment financing · BC · AB
The equipment, financed with the practice or on its own.
Chairs and imaging, exam lanes, surgical suites, dispensing automation, lab plant: medical, dental and clinic equipment, either as part of a bigger practice project or for a practice you already run.
Two ways in
Inside a bigger project, or on its own
Inside a larger practice project
Buying, starting or expanding a practice, the equipment can go into the same project rather than becoming a separate lease at a separate price a year later. Rolled in, it is underwritten as part of the practice and repays on the practice’s clock rather than a short lease term.
On its own, for a practice you already run
Replacing or adding equipment in a practice that is already trading. Tell us what it is, what it costs, when you need it and what else is changing; what a lender will do is set on your file and confirmed to you in writing before you commit. If it comes with more rooms or chairs, it is worth doing as an expansion project rather than as an equipment lease against the existing loan.
Medical, dental and clinic equipment
What it looks like in each kind of practice
Some practices are far more equipment-dense than others. In a veterinary practice, digital radiography, ultrasound, anaesthetic monitoring, an in-house lab and a full surgical suite can add up to a meaningful share of the project.
- DentalOperatories and chairs, imaging including panoramic and cone-beam, sterilization and CAD/CAM.
- MedicalExam-room fit-out, diagnostic and procedural equipment, and records systems.
- VeterinarySurgical suite, dental and digital radiography, ultrasound, anaesthetic monitoring and an in-house lab.
- OptometryExam lanes, phoropters, OCT and retinal imaging, visual fields and an edging lab.
- PharmacyDispensing automation, compounding and blister-packing equipment.
- ChiropracticAdjusting tables, decompression and traction equipment, and any imaging you run.
- DenturistThe lab bench and its plant, the operatory and the fitting rooms.
Examples from each profession’s page, not a list of what a lender will or will not finance.
The terms
Equipment inside a program project
As of October 16, 2026, licensed physicians, dentists, veterinarians, optometrists and pharmacists in BC and Alberta commonly finance a practice purchase or start-up to 100% of project cost, most often with no down payment: the practice, equipment and build-out are written over about 12 years, the real estate over 25 years and sometimes 30, with 1–2 years of interest-only at the start; on a variable rate the facility is fully open with no penalty, on a fixed rate it is closed with a blended amortization. A standard owner-occupied commercial mortgage, by comparison, usually funds to about 75–80% of the building’s value, on the same 25-year amortization, sometimes 30, with the same open-on-variable, closed-on-fixed rule, and it is carried by 2 to 3 years of financials and your personal net worth rather than by your licence.
Equipment financed on its own carries no published figure here: what a lender will do is set on your file and confirmed to you in writing before you commit. On the professions outside the bank programs, leverage is decided case by case.
Size it
- Will the whole deal qualify?The practice, the leaseholds and the equipment borrowed together, beside the real estate, year by year.
- What the financing costsCommitment, legal, appraisal and other fees added up, and what they do to the real cost of the money.
Equipment in a project: the terms
Last reviewed October 16, 2026
| Term | Standard commercial | Healthcare program |
|---|---|---|
| How much of the project is financed | To about 75–80% of the building’s value | Commonly 100% of project cost |
| Practice, equipment, build-out | Separate equipment and leasehold loans | Written over about 12 years |
| Opening period | Amortizes from the first payment | 1–2 years interest-only |
| Prepayment | Variable: fully open, no penalty. Fixed: closed, blended amortization. | Variable: fully open, no penalty. Fixed: closed, blended amortization. |
The program column is for physicians, dentists, veterinarians, optometrists and pharmacists. The other professions on this desk are placed case by case and carry no published figure. The terms this category commonly reaches, not a quote — and “commonly” is doing real work. Some lenders will finance 100% of the building and still ask for a contribution against the goodwill and the leaseholds. What lands on your own file is confirmed to you in writing before you are asked to commit to anything.
What to send
Four things, and the first answer comes back in one business day
- The equipment. What it is, and the quote if you have one.
- The budget. Roughly what it costs, even if the number is still moving.
- The timing. When it needs to be in and working.
- The project around it. On its own, or part of buying, starting, expanding or building out a practice.
Questions
Equipment financing, answered
Usually. Financed separately, each piece is judged on its own and priced for its own risk, and the equipment lease in particular tends to be the expensive one: equipment bought on standalone lease finance is usually the most expensive money in the building. Rolled into the practice project instead, it is underwritten as part of the practice and repays on the practice’s clock rather than a short lease term.
You can ask about it on its own or as part of a bigger change. If it comes with more rooms or chairs, it is worth doing as a project rather than as an equipment lease against the existing loan: the build-out, the equipment and the working-capital dip while the new rooms fill are underwritten together against the expanded practice. What a lender will do on your own file is confirmed to you in writing before you commit.
It can. Real equipment, such as a denturist clinic’s lab bench and its plant, is tangible security a lender can actually look at, so it is worth listing and valuing properly rather than burying it in a single line called fit-out. Where there is nothing physical to secure, a lender who needs equipment to hold will pass; the ones who write these files lend against the practice’s cash flow.
Only the program terms, dated, for a whole practice project, printed in the table on this page for physicians, dentists, veterinarians, optometrists and pharmacists. This desk quotes no rates, and publishes no figure for equipment financed on its own: that is set on your file and confirmed to you in writing before you commit.
Every other kind of practice financing, by purpose: start-up, purchase, expansion, premises, leaseholds, working capital and buy-ins.