{"id":608206,"date":"2026-04-16T15:11:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T15:11:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/608206\/"},"modified":"2026-04-16T15:11:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T15:11:11","slug":"cibc-to-boost-lending-for-canadian-businesses-ceo-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/608206\/","title":{"rendered":"CIBC to boost lending for Canadian businesses, CEO says"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

CIBC chief executive Harry Culham says the bank is set to ramp up lending in sectors deemed critical to Ottawa’s economic agenda.Fred Lum\/The Globe and Mail<\/p>\n

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce CM-T<\/a> chief executive officer Harry Culham says the lender is bolstering financing for businesses as Ottawa injects cash into building major infrastructure. <\/p>\n

The federal government and Canada\u2019s bank regulator have been seeking out ways to encourage more lending from the country\u2019s largest banks to finance major projects and scale small and medium-sized businesses. CIBC plans to ramp up lending for energy, agriculture, transportation, small and medium-sized businesses, and other sectors deemed critical to Ottawa\u2019s strategy to reinforce the economy as geopolitics upends global trade.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to lean in very heavily to this whole concept of nation building, and that involves everything from infrastructure to the other areas,\u201d Mr. Culham said in an interview.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have ample capital, we have a really strong balance sheet, and we are positioning ourselves to be very involved in the commercial and business banking part of economic growth over the next years.\u201d <\/p>\n

RBC plans to spend up to $1-billion to boost investments in Canadian companies, CEO says<\/a><\/p>\n

Ottawa\u2018s federal budget included several measures aimed at creating competition in the banking sector and the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions is changing the way<\/a> banks treat certain loans, in a bid to make it easier for them to lend to businesses. <\/p>\n

In the past three years, CIBC has increased its corporate and commercial lending in Canada by almost $20-billion, Mr. Culham told shareholders at the bank\u2019s annual meeting on Thursday. <\/p>\n

Mr. Culham is also looking to expand its capacity in Canada\u2019s Northern region as the country aims to tap into critical minerals and resources. In March, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced that four Northern infrastructure projects<\/a> would be referred to Ottawa\u2019s Major Projects Office for fast-track approval, which includes new transport and energy options. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe North is another good example where we think we can continue to be very helpful from an economic perspective,\u201d Mr. Culham said in the interview. \u201cThe North is a very relevant and important area for our country, and we plan to be very involved.\u201d <\/p>\n

A key juncture for Canadian businesses looms as the negotiations over the renewal of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement are slated for this summer. CIBC\u2019s clients have adjusted to the new trade environment as they have brokered new deals with global partners, rerouted supply chains and reallocated capital, according to Mr. Culham. <\/p>\n

Businesses are \u201ccautiously optimistic\u201d about the ultimate outcome of a renewed trade deal with the U.S., he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re hopeful that we\u2019ll have some more certainty in the latter half of 2026,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do spend a fair amount of time with government officials, both north and south of the border, and I would say there\u2019s cautious optimism in getting a deal done. It\u2019s better for everyone.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: CIBC chief executive Harry Culham says the bank is set to ramp up…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":608207,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[901,888,902,879,877,903,49,48,876,895,896,891,878,875,46,549,295,894,887,914,880,881,893,889,890,884,904,885,909,910,44,912,907,911,905,908,882,898,899,714,897,906,865,61,900,892,886,883,913],"class_list":{"0":"post-608206","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-canada","8":"tag-alberta","9":"tag-arts-news","10":"tag-bc","11":"tag-breaking-news","12":"tag-breaking-news-video","13":"tag-british-columbia","14":"tag-ca","15":"tag-canada","16":"tag-canada-news","17":"tag-canada-sports","18":"tag-canada-sports-news","19":"tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","20":"tag-canadian-breaking-news","21":"tag-canadian-news","22":"tag-economy","23":"tag-education","24":"tag-environment","25":"tag-federal-government","26":"tag-foreign-news","27":"tag-globe-and-mail","28":"tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","29":"tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","30":"tag-government","31":"tag-life-news","32":"tag-lifestyle","33":"tag-local-news","34":"tag-manitoba","35":"tag-national-news","36":"tag-new-brunswick","37":"tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","38":"tag-news","39":"tag-northwest-territories","40":"tag-nova-scotia","41":"tag-nunavut","42":"tag-ontario","43":"tag-pei","44":"tag-photos","45":"tag-political-news","46":"tag-political-opinion","47":"tag-politics","48":"tag-politics-news","49":"tag-quebec","50":"tag-sports-news","51":"tag-technology","52":"tag-travel","53":"tag-trudeau","54":"tag-us-news","55":"tag-world-news","56":"tag-yukon"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/608206","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=608206"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/608206\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/608207"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=608206"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=608206"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=608206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}