Small Business Owners Putting up Personal Assets to Keep Businesses Afloat, New Equifax Canada Survey Finds
Key Highlights
- ➤26% of surveyed owners required personal guarantees for business financing
- ➤21% opened or applied for personal credit lines as business safety nets
- ➤53% cited finding or retaining customers as their top challenge
- ➤Business principals carry 105% higher personal credit balances than average consumers
- ➤54% of owners aged 18-34 required personal guarantees, versus 15% aged 55-plus
Expert Statements
Jeff Brown, Head of Commercial Solutions at Equifax Canada
“Running a small business has always involved financial risk, but these findings highlight how closely business and personal finances can become connected”
Jeff Brown, Head of Commercial Solutions at Equifax Canada
“This data clearly demonstrates a disproportionate dependence on personal credit to secure timely funding and sustain their operations. To put this in perspective, if businesses are relying on HELOCs to sustain operations - and they are doing this amid challenging real estate market fluctuations - this could put them in a difficult situation. When owners are using personal credit or pledging personal assets to support their business, the financial health of the company can have implications well beyond the business itself,”
Jeff Brown, Head of Commercial Solutions at Equifax Canada
“The findings suggest that younger business owners are managing several pressures simultaneously: maintaining customers and revenue, absorbing higher costs and, in some cases, finding additional financing to bridge cash-flow gaps.”
Jeff Brown, Head of Commercial Solutions at Equifax Canada
“You cannot manage what you cannot see”
Jeff Brown, Head of Commercial Solutions at Equifax Canada
“Understanding a company’s commercial credit profile can help business owners better understand how lenders may view their business and the financing options that may be available to them. Making that information easier to access could help owners make more informed financial decisions.”
TORONTO, Oct. 22, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The financial pressures facing Canadian small businesses are extending beyond the business itself, with some owners relying on personal credit and assets to support their companies, according to a new Equifax Canada survey.
One in four surveyed business owners (26 per cent) say they have been required to provide a personal guarantee to obtain business financing, potentially putting personal assets such as savings or a family home on the line to help keep their business afloat. Separately, one in five surveyed owners (21 per cent) say they have applied for or opened a personal line of credit as a financial safety net for their business during the past two years.
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