I am Steve Watton. I'm with ISED. I'm here to speak to you about clauses 205 to 209, which deal with enhancements to the Canada small business financing program. The amendments are designed primarily to help more small businesses get access to the types of financing they need, in the amounts they need, to basically start up, innovate and scale up.
Subclause 205(1) is basically a clarifying amendment to the definition of a loan. It amends section 2 of the Canada Small Business Financing Act to specify that “loan” includes a line of credit and not just a term loan, which is under the normal program. It's just a clarification to be explicit in the act.
Subclauses 205(2) and (3) amend the definition of “small business” in section 2 of the Canada Small Business Financing Act. It's basically to remove the restriction that excludes not-for-profit, charitable and religious enterprises from accessing the program.