Financing by purpose · BC · AB
What are you financing?
Start from your profession or start from the deal. Each purpose below says what a lender looks at, which calculators size it and how it sits beside the other pieces of one project — then it goes straight to Ramin.
Eight ways in
Pick the part you are financing
Most files are more than one of these. Start with the one in front of you; each part explains how it joins the rest.
Starting a new practice
A cold start: no goodwill to buy, so the build-out, equipment and working capital carry more of the project.
Read this partBuying a practice
The chart base, the goodwill and the going concern you are buying from the retiring owner.
Read this partExpanding or relocating
More rooms, more chairs or a new location, financed as one project rather than a lease bolted onto an existing loan.
Read this partBuying the premises
The building, or your unit in it, financed against the property on the longest clock in the deal.
Read this partLeasehold improvements
The fit-out: the exam or treatment rooms, the dispensary or the lab, and the build-out of a new clinic.
Read this partEquipment
Medical, dental and clinic equipment, on its own or as part of a larger practice project.
Open the pageWorking capital
A revolving corporate line of credit, not a term loan, with a corporate credit card beside it.
Read this partBuy-ins and buyouts
Buying into or buying out a clinic: the patient panel, the roster and the going concern.
Read this partAt a glance
What the program commonly reaches, whatever the purpose
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.
Physicians, dentists, veterinarians, optometrists and pharmacists sit inside bank programs written around their professions. The other professions on this desk are placed on their file, which is why their pages carry no leverage figure.
Every figure is confirmed in writing on your own file before you commit to anything.
Practice financing at a glance
Last reviewed October 16, 2026
| Term | Standard commercial | Healthcare program |
|---|---|---|
| Down payment | Usually 20–25%, less on strong files | Commonly none |
| How much of the project is financed | To about 75–80% of the building’s value | Commonly 100% of project cost |
| Real estate | Usually 25 years, sometimes 30 | Usually 25 years, sometimes 30 |
| 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. |
| What carries the file | 2 to 3 years of financials and your personal net worth | Your licence first, then 2 to 3 years of financials or projections; net worth counts for less |
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. The standard column is the conventional owner-occupied commercial mortgage as published on mortgageguru.ca.
One project
Several facilities, one file
Financed separately, each piece is judged on its own and priced for its own risk. Financed together, the whole practice is underwritten as a single going concern. That is what makes the full-project structure possible.
Real estate
The building, or your unit in it, on the longest clock in the deal.
Usually 25 yearsPractice acquisition
The chart base, the goodwill and the going concern you are buying.
About 12 yearsLeasehold & equipment
The fit-out and the equipment, on the same clock as the practice.
About 12 yearsWorking capital
A revolving corporate line of credit, with a corporate credit card beside it.
Revolving lineThe clocks are what the bank programs commonly reach for physicians, dentists, veterinarians, optometrists and pharmacists. On the other professions the term is set on your file.
How the borrowing is usually held. These deals are commonly structured across two companies — a holding company for the real estate, an operating company for the practice — with guarantees crossing between them. Worth having your accountant in the room early: that structure has tax consequences well beyond the loan.
A funded file, as one project: about $1.8 million for a $770,000 North Shore clinic purchase. The premises, the build-out and the working capital were financed together, with no down payment: a $770,000 real estate loan on a 25-year amortization, an $800,000 leasehold-improvement loan on a 12-year amortization and a $200,000 operating line, plus a $50,000 corporate card on regular card terms. The roughly $1.8 million is the whole project, not the mortgage’s loan-to-value. Read the full case study on mortgageguru.ca.
01 · Start-up
Starting a new practice
A cold start has no goodwill to buy, so the project is smaller, but the build-out, the equipment and the working capital carry proportionally more of it. With no history of its own, the file is judged on your projections and the catchment rather than on historical statements, so the plan and the location analysis do real work.
Before the first conversation
- The business plan — the document every lender asks for. We build it with you, around the deal you are actually doing.
- A location analysis. Bring it to the first conversation and the file moves faster.
- Build-out quotes in the form a lender will accept, rather than a number on the back of an envelope.
- Leaving a dental office to open your own hygiene practice? A lender wants to see the book you bring: the patients likely to follow you where the rules allow, a lease, modest equipment and honest working capital.
Size it
- Will the whole deal qualify?The building, the practice, the leaseholds and the equipment together, year by year.
- What the financing costsCommitment, legal, appraisal and environmental fees, and what they do to the real cost of the money.
Start-up: the terms that apply
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 |
| What carries the file | 2 to 3 years of financials and your personal net worth | Your licence first, then 2 to 3 years of financials or projections; net worth counts for less |
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.
02 · Acquisition
Buying a practice
A practice purchase is underwritten against the practice: its cash flow, its patient base and the price you are paying, with your licence behind it. Having no filed returns of your own is normal for a first purchase and is not what decides the file.
What you are buying is the chart base, the goodwill and the going concern from the retiring owner. If the building comes with it, the real estate moves onto its own longer clock — see buying the premises.
Before the first conversation
- The statements, the purchase agreement, your licence and credit position, and a valuation where one is needed.
- Your accountant and lawyer early: the holdco question, the share-versus-asset question and the agreement itself.
- Early is better — the structure is easiest to influence before anything is signed.
Size it
- Practice-acquisition estimatorThe borrowing the practice’s cash flow could support, on the home page.
- What the practice is worthAdjusted earnings, a value on the multiple you choose, and whether that price covers its own debt.
- Will the whole deal qualify?Every piece of the project against the earnings that support it.
- Cash you need at closingIf the building is included: property transfer tax in British Columbia, land titles registration in Alberta, and the professional costs on the day.
The four questions buyers ask first, about a first purchase, the down payment, student debt and track record, are answered on the home page.
Acquisition: the terms that apply
Last reviewed October 16, 2026
| Term | Standard commercial | Healthcare program |
|---|---|---|
| Down payment | Usually 20–25%, less on strong files | Commonly none |
| 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 |
| What carries the file | 2 to 3 years of financials and your personal net worth | Your licence first, then 2 to 3 years of financials or projections; net worth counts for less |
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.
03 · Expansion or relocation
Expanding or relocating a clinic
An expansion is not simply more of the same. On a dental file, going from six chairs to eight is build-out, equipment and a working-capital dip while the new rooms fill, financed against a cash flow that does not yet include them. Treated as one project rather than an equipment lease bolted onto an existing loan, it prices very differently. On a medical file, the float while a new panel or location fills sits in the working-capital piece.
Moving? If the move is into premises you buy, owning removes the renewal negotiation, the relocation clause and the risk of being moved on once your patient base is established.
Before the first conversation
- A current valuation of the practice you already own: it is the document that makes an expansion or refinance straightforward instead of slow.
- The plan for the new rooms or the new location, and the quotes for the build-out and the equipment.
Size it
- Will the whole deal qualify?The project year by year, with the coverage number underwriters look at.
- What the practice is worthAdjusted earnings and a value on the multiple you choose.
- Restructuring what you already oweFor a clinic already trading: what the equity in your building could carry, and what one structure would free up each month.
Expansion: the terms that apply
Last reviewed October 16, 2026
| Term | Standard commercial | Healthcare program |
|---|---|---|
| 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.
04 · Premises
Buying the premises
The building is the first of the pillars for a reason: it is the piece with the longest amortization, and the one that leaves you owning the premises afterwards. It is financed against the property, on its own clock, beside the shorter borrowing for the practice.
Leasing today? Then the real estate piece simply is not in your deal, and if you buy the premises later, it can be added.
Why owning so often beats renting — the rent that only moves one way, the unit you already occupy, your address as part of the practice — is set out on the home page.
Size it
- Rent versus buyThe rent that never stops against a payment that falls and ends, a zero-down purchase included.
- Cash you need at closingBritish Columbia and Alberta side by side, plus the professional costs that land on the day.
- What the financing costsLegal, appraisal and environmental fees added up.
On a funded file: a $770,000 North Shore clinic purchase carried a $770,000 real estate loan on a 25-year amortization, with no down payment. Read the case study on mortgageguru.ca.
Premises: the terms that apply
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 |
| Real estate | Usually 25 years, sometimes 30 | Usually 25 years, sometimes 30 |
| Prepayment | Variable: fully open, no penalty. Fixed: closed, blended amortization. | Variable: fully open, no penalty. Fixed: closed, blended amortization. |
| What carries the file | 2 to 3 years of financials and your personal net worth | Your licence first, then 2 to 3 years of financials or projections; net worth counts for less |
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.
05 · Leasehold improvements
Leasehold improvements
The fit-out: the exam or treatment rooms, the dispensary or the lab, and the build-out of a new clinic. In an optometry dispensary, cabinetry, display and lighting look like retail spend, but they are structurally part of the practice.
On a standard commercial file the build-out is a separate leasehold loan. Inside a healthcare program it is written with the practice and the equipment, on the same clock — the table beside this says how, and the note under it where a lender may still ask for a contribution.
Before the first conversation
- Contractor quotes in the form a lender will accept, rather than a number on the back of an envelope. We bring contractors for the leasehold improvements.
Size it
- Will the whole deal qualify?The practice, the leaseholds and the equipment borrowed together, beside the real estate.
- What the financing costsThe fees on the loan, and what they do to the real cost of the money.
On a funded file: the North Shore clinic’s build-out was an $800,000 leasehold-improvement loan on a 12-year amortization. Both term loans in that project were fully open and interest-only for their first two years. Read the case study on mortgageguru.ca.
Leaseholds: the terms that apply
Last reviewed October 16, 2026
| Term | Standard commercial | Healthcare program |
|---|---|---|
| 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.
06 · Equipment
Equipment
Chairs and imaging, exam lanes, surgical suites, dispensing automation, lab plant: medical, dental and clinic equipment, financed as part of a larger practice project or on its own for a practice you already run. It has its own page, with what to send and the questions the enquiry asks.
07 · Operating capital
Working capital
Working capital is a revolving corporate line of credit, not a term loan. It carries payroll, inventory and supplies while the appointment book fills up, and a corporate credit card can sit beside the line.
Inventory is the item that trips buyers up. Frame and lens inventory in an optometry practice, and a pharmacy’s inventory, which is larger than buyers expect: it is real, sellable stock, and it belongs in the working-capital piece of the project rather than being an out-of-pocket cost stacked on top of the purchase price.
An emergency or after-hours practice needs a larger float for overnight staffing; an expansion needs one while the new rooms fill.
No calculator here models a revolving line. Will the whole deal qualify? sizes the term borrowing the line sits beside.
On a funded file: the North Shore clinic’s project included a $200,000 operating line, plus a $50,000 corporate card on regular card terms, beside its premises and build-out. Read the case study on mortgageguru.ca.
08 · Buy-in or buyout
Buy-ins and buyouts
Buying into a clinic as a partner or an associate finances your share of the going concern, against the clinic’s cash flow and your position in it. Buying into or buying out a clinic is the practice-acquisition piece of the project.
The partnership agreement — especially its departure and valuation provisions — does more to shape the financing than the price does, so have it available early.
Just finished residency? On a physician file, being newly in practice is ordinary for a first buy-in and is not the thing that decides the file.
Size it
- Own it, or stay associateYour pay against an owner’s take-home with the loan payment on it: the year-one cut, the year it turns, and the equity alongside.
- What the practice is worthWhether the price of the share covers its own debt.
Buy-ins: the terms that apply
Last reviewed October 16, 2026
| Term | Standard commercial | Healthcare program |
|---|---|---|
| Practice, equipment, build-out | Separate equipment and leasehold loans | Written over about 12 years |
| What carries the file | 2 to 3 years of financials and your personal net worth | Your licence first, then 2 to 3 years of financials or projections; net worth counts for less |
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.
Questions
Financing by purpose, answered
Commonly, yes, and that is how this desk arranges them. Financed separately, each piece is judged on its own and priced for its own risk. Financed together, the whole practice is underwritten as a single going concern: the premises on their own long clock, the practice, the equipment and the build-out on a shorter one, and the working capital as a revolving line of credit with a corporate credit card beside it. What lands on your own file is confirmed to you in writing before you are asked to commit to anything.
No. Physicians, dentists, veterinarians, optometrists and pharmacists sit inside bank programs written around their professions, and the terms those programs commonly reach are printed on this desk, dated. The other professions are placed on their file: far fewer lenders write them, so what a lender will do is decided case by case, and this desk publishes no leverage figure for them.
No. Equipment can be part of a larger project or financed on its own for a practice you already run. Rolled into a project, it is underwritten as part of the practice and repays on the practice’s clock rather than a short lease term. On its own, what a lender will do is set on your file and confirmed to you in writing before you commit.
With the deal you are looking at: a purchase agreement, a set of statements, or just the practice you have been offered and a question about whether it works. Most files are two or three of these at once. The first answer is free, and it takes one business day.
Discuss a deal
Not sure which of these it is?
Most files are two or three of them at once. Send the deal you are looking at; the first answer is free, and it takes one business day.