Healthcare loans in Canada are dominated by practice-acquisition financing. Dentists, physicians, vets, and optometrists buying existing practices. Underwriting heavily favors healthcare — Canadian banks view dental + medical loans as among the lowest-risk loans they make (<0.5% default rate). Rates 1-2% below standard commercial.
Canadian healthcare practices have remarkable economic stability: regulated profession, insurance-billed revenue, no inventory risk, recession-resistant demand. Default rates on physician/dentist acquisition loans are below 0.5%. Compare to restaurants (8-12%) or construction (6-10%). RBC, Scotia, and BMO compete aggressively for these clients — pushing rates 100-150 bps below commercial baseline.