Alternative Funding Options (AFO)
Funding stacks, not single programs.
The answer to 'what funding do I need?' is rarely one program. Real CPA-level capital planning combines two or three programs into a stack — equipment + working capital, non-dilutive R&D, senior + mezz + vendor for an MBO. Each stack below names the layers AND the role each one plays.
6 stacks curated at launch
Pick the question, then the stack that answers it.
Each stack page names the layers, the role each layer plays, and the sequencing that keeps lenders and grant programs from tripping on each other. Curated by real engagement patterns, not by tagging.
- 3 layers · 2 live
CSBFP + working-capital line
The single most common owner-operator capital stack in Canada layers a CSBFP equipment + leasehold loan with a conventional working-capital revolver. CSBFP covers the asset purchases at the cheapest available rate (Prime + 3%, government-guaranteed); the revolver handles the AR + inventory cycle. The two facilities never compete for the same dollar — they fund different parts of the business — but the package needs to be designed together so the lender sees a coherent overall ask.
Programs: CSBFP · Conventional Senior Term Loan or Revolver · ABL Revolver (Asset-Based Lending)
Read the stack
- 3 layers · 2 live
SR&ED + IRAP
SR&ED and IRAP are the two workhorses of Canadian R&D funding. They cover overlapping eligible expenditures but work through fundamentally different mechanisms — SR&ED is a refundable tax credit claimed in arrears against the corporate return; IRAP is a contribution program with pre-approval and draw-down funding. Run together on the same project, the two programs fund a meaningful share of a Canadian tech company’s technical labour. The trap is double-claiming the same hours: IRAP cannot pay for time also claimed as SR&ED, and the timesheet discipline matters.
Programs: NRC IRAP · SR&ED · Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC)
Read the stack
- 3 layers · 1 live
MBO leverage stack
Management buyouts are leverage transactions first and equity transactions second. The senior tranche carries the cheapest dollar but the tightest covenants; the mezzanine layer unlocks the upper-leverage band at higher coupon; the vendor note bridges the equity-injection gap; the management team injects the equity that closes the deal. Each layer has distinct economics that compound over the five-to-seven years it usually takes to retire the debt — and the wrong ratio at close costs the management team materially at exit.
Programs: Conventional Senior Term Loan or Revolver · Mezzanine Debt · Private Credit / Unitranche
Read the stack
- 6 layers · 2 live
Clean-tech grant stack
Canada has built one of the deepest federal funding stacks in the world for clean technology, but the programs don’t self-orchestrate — each has its own application, eligibility, and matching-capital rule. The skill is layering them coherently so the project carries the lowest blended cost of capital without disqualifying itself from any individual program by stacking-rule conflict. Done well, a Canadian clean-tech project can pull 40–60% of total project cost as non-repayable contributions plus refundable tax credits, with the balance covered by senior debt or strategic equity.
Programs: Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) · Clean Technology Investment Tax Credit · Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF) · SR&ED · …
Read the stack
- 5 layers · 4 live
Exporter stack
Exporters face two distinct capital gaps simultaneously: the up-front cost of entering a new market (research, travel, trade shows, IP protection, translation) and the working-capital cycle of fulfilling export orders (longer DSO, currency exposure, foreign-buyer credit risk). Different instruments cover each gap; the right structure layers two or three of them together rather than picking one. The CPA designs the financing plan and the FX hedge against the same set of assumptions so the export plan and the capital plan don’t drift apart.
Programs: CanExport SME · ABL Revolver (Asset-Based Lending) · Invoice Factoring & AR Finance · Conventional Senior Term Loan or Revolver · …
Read the stack
- 8 layers · 5 live
Manufacturer growth stack
Manufacturers carry hard assets, long working-capital cycles, and a programmatic R&D spend — three traits that open distinct funding pools in the Canadian system. The default growth-stage stack layers equipment finance (the asset side), ABL or senior revolvers (the working-capital cycle), and the non-dilutive R&D layer (SR&ED + IRAP + Clean Tech ITC where applicable). Each piece is independently underwritten but designed against a single business case so the lenders and the grant programs see a coherent overall plan.
Programs: CSBFP · Equipment Finance / Leasing · ABL Revolver (Asset-Based Lending) · Conventional Senior Term Loan or Revolver · …
Read the stack
Most real-practice capital plans are stacks, not single programs.
The stacks above are the default shapes for the most common CPA-led conversations. Real engagements often combine elements of two or three — a growth-stage manufacturer with export ambitions runs the manufacturer growth stack plus the exporter stack; a clean-tech business doing an MBO runs the MBO stack with the clean-tech grant layer underneath. The CPA designs the combination against the actual business case.