A development finance institution is a specialized development bank that provides financial services aimed at growing the local private sector in developing countries.

FinDev Canada is Canada’s development finance institution. FinDev Canada offers financial solutions to the private sector in developing countries with the potential to create jobs, promote gender equality and contribute to climate and nature action. FinDev Canada is a wholly owned subsidiary of Export Development Canada.

After years of multilateral discussions, the Government of Canada allocated CAD 300 million to the creation of a development finance institution in its 2015 budget. In May of 2017, the decision to create Canada’s development finance institution was confirmed. The Government of Canada decided that the new Crown Corporation would be established as a subsidiary of Export Development Canada to allow for a quicker implementation.

FinDev Canada’s mandate is to support economic growth in developing countries through investment in the private sector while being financially self-sustainable.

FinDev Canada was launched with an initial capitalization of CAD 300 million, provided from Export Development Canada’s retained earnings.

FinDev Canada aims at becoming financially self-sustainable.

No. FinDev Canada’s mandate is to support economic growth in developing countries through investment in the private sector while being financially sustainable. FinDev Canada’s financial services are offered at commercial rates and aim at filling financing gaps in our countries of operation without distorting commercial financial markets.

FinDev Canada has a geographic focus on Latin America, the Caribbean, the Indo-Pacific and Sub-Saharan Africa.

FinDev Canada supports businesses that operate in the areas of sustainable infrastructure, the agribusiness value chain and the financial industry. In the case of the financial industry, support here is intended as a means to reach local small and medium-sized enterprises.

More information about our priority sectors is available in our Investment section.

FinDev Canada offers loans, guarantees and direct and indirect equity investments.

More information in our Investment section. 

FinDev Canada created a Development Impact Framework that allows us to screen potential transactions for present and future impact and helps us work with clients to improve their performance against the goals we measure.

More information about our Development Impact Framework is available in our Development Impact section.

We focus on gender equality, market development and climate and nature action.

More information about our Development Impact Goals is available in our Development Impact section.

You can check FinDev Canada’s eligibility criteria here.

You can fill in our contact form here or you can send an email to info@findevcanada.ca.

We receive many proposals every day and we treat every one of them diligently. Someone from our Investments Team will respond to you on whether there is interest in evaluating your proposal further. Regardless of our decision, your information remains confidential. More information is available in our Privacy Policy.

FinDev Canada is committed to transparency about its operations, strategies and policies. At the same time, FinDev Canada recognizes the requirements of a responsible financial institution to protect the commercially sensitive and confidential business and financial information of its clients. Basic transaction information is disclosed at least 30 days before signature in our Transparency and Disclosure page. A summary of the expected development impact and Environmental and Social assessment of all transactions is disclosed 90 days after the signature.  For more information, see our Transparency and Disclosure page here.

Every year, FinDev Canada issues an annual report of its activities, portfolio, transactions, development impact and financial activities. You can consult the latest Annual Report here.