Ottawa Community Loan Fund

How To Apply

If you meet the eligibility criteria, all you need to do to start the process is fill out a loan application form which can be downloaded from this site or is available upon request from the Ottawa Community Loan Fund. Please allow a minimum of three (3) weeks from submission of your completed application to disbursement.

OCLF Small Business & Internationally-trained professional loan application forms have three main parts that:

Request personal information such as address, employment,
household budget, and assets and liabilities.
Focus on the business or Internationally-trained professional accreditation program, the loan request and three references that we can contact.
Require certification of the information provided.

Additionally, in order to get a clearer understanding of you and your business venture we may ask you to supply additional information.

Submit the completed application along with:

the $10 application fee
for a small business loan, a detailed business plan (see www.bplans.com/dp for more information)
confirmation of training (if applicable)

Review Of Your Application.
From start to finish, the review process for a OCLF loan can take up to 4 weeks. Upon receipt of your application form and non-refundable $10 application fee, OCLF will review the application to ensure that all eligibility criteria are met and the required information is included.

Following this, and within 1-3 business days from receipt of a complete application, OCLF will contact you to clarify and discuss your application and (if appropriate) schedule an interview. In addition, OCLF will conduct a full review of the business plan along with a personal credit check, reference checks and other research as required.

Assessment of OCLF loan applications is based on the viability of the business, the commitment and character of the applicant, and the capacity for repayment.

The final stage of the review process is done by the OCLF Loan Review Committee, which is comprised of volunteers from the community who assess the application against pre-established criteria.

If at any point we feel that an application cannot proceed for further review, we will advise you and provide our reasons for making the decision.