FAQ

The SADC des Laurentides offers services to businesses whose head office is in the Pays-d’en-Haut RCM and the Laurentides RCM territories. Certain exceptions apply. Find the SADC or CAE that serves your region.

For your financing application to be considered, you must provide all required documents:

• The completed online financing application form;
• A business plan or project summary detailing your needs
• A two-year financial forecast;
• Personal balance sheets for each shareholder (download the document).

If your company is already in business:

• Financial statements for the last 2 years;
• Updated internal financial statements.

SADC des Laurentides will analyze the shareholders’ credit file.

Visit our toolbox to find templates for business plans, financial forecasts and personal balance sheets.

The Youth Strategy Loan is for entrepreneurs aged 39 and under. The term loan ranges from $5,000 to $25,000 per company. It comes with an interest-free period for the first 24 months and a capital-free period for the first 3 months. To find out more, visit our Financing Terms page.

To analyze your application, the financing team needs to have a good understanding of your project. A well-detailed project summary may be sufficient. Make sure you include all the details relevant to understanding your business project. A business plan, even if it is not compulsory to obtain financing, serves to guide entrepreneurs and reassure investors. Visit our toolbox.

We have produced a series of four podcasts to help people who want to apply for funding. You’ll find practical advice from four business advisors and four entrepreneurs who have been through one or more financing applications. Produced in collaboration with Desjardins Entreprises, CDE of the Laurentides RCM and the Pays-d’en-Haut RCM.

Listen to the podcast

We do not offer grants for businesses. However, on occasion, certain special programs allow us to offer non-refundable contributions for a targeted sector. Visit the Ad Hoc Programs page to find out more.

Processing time for financing applications varies depending on the submission date of all required documents; the loan amount (faster for loans of $50,000 or less); how easy it is for the team to receive project information, etc. As every financing application is different, the average turnaround time is three to four weeks.

Our mission is to promote the economic development of our territory. We offer financing to businesses that do not qualify for financing from financial institutions, for all kinds of reasons.

Above all, our financing is accompanied by support from our team of advisors to help your business succeed.

Our team will evaluate your needs and offer you personalized support in collaboration with the experts already involved in your business transfer (accountant, notary, bookkeeper). We also have a bank of pre-qualified people interested in buying a business in the region. We can put you in touch with a potential buyer.

We pre-qualify the feasibility of financing the business and the potential buyer’s ability to meet its conditions. This allows you to disclose your financial statements to serious candidates only.

Nous développons une banque de personnes préqualifiées et intéressées à acheter une entreprise dans la région. Nous pourrions vous mettre en lien avec un.e acheteur.euse potentiel.le.

La préqualification de la faisabilité du financement de l’entreprises et de la capacité de l’acheteur.euse potentiel.le à rencontrer ces conditions vous permet de ne dévoiler vos états financiers qu’aux personnes sérieuses et solvables.

Depending on your needs, we can help you to:

• find a business that matches your profile;
• pre-qualify you to determine your borrowing capacity;
• help you evaluate the purchase price of the business in question;
• facilitate discussions with the person selling their business.

The support provided by our team is free, thanks in part to the financial participation of Desjardins. Fees may apply if you decide to participate in a training session or consult specialists for a specific mandate.

Business mentorship can help you to:
gain confidence in your abilities, clarify your vision, help to better plan and manage priorities, manage stress more effectively, and improve leadership and human resource skills. Talk to the SADC Mentoring Coordinator or attend an online Rencontre Découverte meeting to see if mentorship is for you.

Both mentors and mentees have a say in who they work with.  The Mentoring Coordinator, who knows the team of mentors well, will guide you according to your needs.

Occasionally, the match just isn’t a good fit. If this is the case, you may request a change of mentor.

We invite you to contact the Mentoring Coordinator, who will be happy to provide you with the service fee structure and information about the various free programs available.

Individual mentoring

Being accompanied by a mentor helps you develop your critical thinking and problem-solving skills, your negotiation and communication abilities, overcome social isolation, and find the support and encouragement you need to reach your goals!

Group mentoring

The group mentoring programme is designed to enable entrepreneurs to learn collectively and to identify the entrepreneurial experience required at this stage of their development. Group mentoring allows you to get to know yourself better as an entrepreneur and to improve through the experience of others.

• Learn about entrepreneurial skills by sharing experiences as a group.
• Create a local business network based on shared life experience.
• Reduce social isolation and develop entrepreneurial daring.
• Take action by developing personal resources and skills.
• Develop as an entrepreneur and improve through the experience of others.

Good coaches and good mentors strive to help others fulfill their potential. Where mentoring differs from coaching, however is that mentoring involves someone sharing their knowledge, skills and experience with another, while listening to what they say – and don’t say – as they help them find their own answers.

Coaching, on the other hand, generally entails remuneration and a more directive approach. A mentor helps you to see what you are doing or are unconsciously not doing and how it might affect your results.

People with a strong entrepreneurial background who are willing to listen to others and make a difference in their community by sharing their experience. Being a mentor means being part of a structured and growing network of entrepreneurs that makes a difference.

If you are interested in mentoring, we suggest you take part in the Réseau Mentorat discovery meeting or contact the Mentoring Coordinator at the SADC des Laurentides.

We love to hear about ALL business projects! If your project isn’t yet defined, if you don’t have a project summary and you still need to work out the details of your idea, please consult our partners and our toolbox.

There are several options available to you. You can use the business plan template in the toolbox. Local organisations can also help you: Pays-d’en-Haut RCM, CDE of the Laurentides RCM, Fonds d’Emprunt de Laurentides, École de Entrepreneurs, Centre de formation professionnelle des Sommets.

If you apply for financing, we will work with you to evaluate project feasibility based on the location, however we do not offer a business locator service. To learn about more available opportunities, you can contact Chambers of Commerce, industrial parks, or urban and economic development departments in the targeted municipalities.

You can also consult the website of La Manufacture, business incubator and accelerator located in Sainte-Agathe.

In collaboration with our partner, Synergie Économique Laurentides, we offer support services to help businesses become more responsible, whether it be at the environmental, social or managerial level.

Please contact us for more details. You can also consult our toolbox to learn more about which concrete actions you implement in your business.

If you want to develop or optimize your digital tools (website, online shop, CRM, etc.), you could get help from:

The SADC des Laurentides to obtain financing for your digital transformation.

Contact us for more information.

The Pays-d’en-Haut RCM if your business is located in their territory. Visit their website.

Dedicated support programmes.

Visit the Ad Hoc Programs page to find out if there are any programs available at the moment.

Our team is trained to support businesses in all sectors. We also work with a number of partners, including Connexion Laurentides, whose mission is to promote business innovation.

Our team is equipped to offer you sound advice. We also work with a number of partners, including  Laurentides International which offers export consulting services for SMEs in the Laurentians.