Healthcare practice financing.
Medical and dental clinics, pharmacies and veterinary practices across BC and Alberta — the practice, the build-out, the equipment and the working capital arranged as one package.
Most clinicians finish training with a licence, a debt load, and no deposit — and assume that means waiting years before owning anything. It usually doesn't. For physicians and dentists, practice purchase and start-up are commonly financed to 100% of project cost, with the equipment, the build-out, the first year's working capital and a revolving operating line arranged in the same structure. The question worth asking early isn't whether you can afford the down payment. It's whether the practice you're looking at carries the debt that buys it — and that is a question with a number behind it.
Four kinds of practice.
Family practice, walk-in, specialist and multi-physician clinics — buying in, buying out, or opening the first location.
General and specialist dentistry — associate buy-ins, full practice purchases, and de novo builds fitted out from bare shell.
Independent retail pharmacy, banner locations and clinic-attached dispensaries — purchase, relocation or expansion.
Companion-animal, mixed and emergency practices, including the surgical and imaging equipment that comes with them.
Everything the practice needs, funded together.
Split across separate applications, these pieces arrive at different times on different terms — and the one that doesn't land is the one that stops you opening. Arranged as a single structure, they don't.
Buying an existing book of patients, or a share of one — the goodwill, charts and going concern that make it a practice rather than a room.
Operatories, plumbing, lead-lined rooms, cabinetry, HVAC and everything else that turns bare space into a clinic that passes inspection.
Chairs, imaging, sterilisation, lab and surgical equipment, practice-management software and the servers behind it.
The months before the schedule fills — payroll, supplies, insurance, licensing and marketing, funded rather than absorbed personally.
A revolving line beside the term debt, so receivables timing and a slow month never become a personal-credit problem.
Own the premises instead of renting them — an owner-occupied commercial mortgage sitting alongside the practice financing.
Three lanes, depending on the practice.
This is the part most new practice owners do not realise is available: the down payment they were saving toward is usually not required at all. Capital that would have been locked into a deposit stays where it belongs — carrying the practice through its first year.
Pharmacy and vet files live or die on volume and location rather than on designation alone, so they are underwritten closer to a conventional business purchase — which is exactly why the numbers should be modelled before you make an offer.
Rent is the largest fixed cost most clinics never stop paying. Buying the space converts it into equity in an asset you control — and removes the risk of a landlord who declines to renew once your patients know the address.
Structures described here are typical patterns for illustration — last reviewed July 2026 — and practice financing is written file by file; every figure is confirmed in writing before you rely on it. If you're also buying the premises, the mechanics are on our owner-occupied commercial page, and equipment specifics live with our equipment financing partners.
Files like yours.
What practice owners ask first.
Is it really possible to buy a practice with no down payment?+
For licensed physicians and dentists, practice purchase and start-up are commonly financed to 100% of project cost, so no down payment is required. Lenders treat a medical or dental licence as the security that a deposit would otherwise provide, because default rates in these professions are very low. The exact terms are confirmed in writing on your file before you commit to anything.
Can the equipment and the start-up costs go in the same financing?+
Yes, and they should. Practice purchase, leasehold build-out, equipment, working capital and a revolving operating line are arranged together as one package rather than as separate applications to separate places. One structure, one set of covenants, and no gap where a piece of the project turns out to be unfunded.
What is the operating line actually for?+
Timing. Receivables arrive later than payroll does, supplies are bought before they're billed, and a new practice's schedule fills gradually. A revolving line absorbs that gap so a slow month is a cash-flow event rather than a personal-credit event.
Does this work for a brand-new practice, not just buying an existing one?+
Both. An existing practice is underwritten on its demonstrated billings; a de novo build is underwritten on your designation, the location, and a defensible projection. Start-ups need a more detailed plan and a longer working-capital runway built into the request, which is exactly why the runway belongs in the financing rather than in your savings account.
Should I buy the clinic space or keep leasing?+
It depends on how long you intend to practise there and what the space costs to own versus rent. Owning removes renewal risk and converts your largest fixed cost into equity; leasing preserves flexibility if the location is unproven. We model both before you sign either, and the real estate can be financed alongside the practice.
I'm a pharmacist or veterinarian — are my terms the same?+
Similar shelf, different underwriting. Pharmacy and veterinary files are assessed more like a conventional business purchase, weighing dispensing or clinical volume, supplier arrangements and the location's catchment. Leverage is set file by file, so we confirm your numbers in writing rather than quoting a general rule.
Does buying a practice affect my ability to get a mortgage on a home?+
It changes the picture rather than closing it. Practice debt and personal guarantees show up in residential underwriting, but physician and dentist mortgage programs are built for exactly this situation — including projected income for those early in practice. Our dedicated physician desk covers that side in depth.
Practice in sight? Have these ready.
The earlier the financing is modelled, the more room there is to negotiate the purchase — and the less chance of discovering the equipment budget was never covered.
- Your professional licence and designation, and your CV or years in practice
- The practice's financials — last two to three years, plus year-to-date, if you're buying an existing one
- The purchase agreement or letter of intent, including what's goodwill and what's equipment
- Equipment list and quotes for anything new, with the build-out estimate if you're fitting out
- The lease — term remaining, renewal options and rent, or the purchase details if you're buying the space
- Your personal net worth statement and any student or professional debt
- A first-year plan: expected patient or client volume, staffing, and when you expect to be at capacity
- Your accountant's contact — practice financing is structured with them from day one
Buying a practice? Start with the numbers.
Send the practice's financials and your equipment and build-out estimates — we'll model the whole package, operating line included, before you sign anything binding.
Buying a home as well? Our physician mortgage desk ↗ covers projected-income and low-down-payment programs for doctors and dentists early in practice.