In this series, we featured southerners who bought a cottage resort in Northern Ontario and have no regrets. After listening to these episodes, maybe you're ready to make the leap, in theory, but the actual dollars and cents are holding you back. If that's the case, tune in to this episode about one of the North’s best kept secrets: Community Futures Development Corporations. CFDCs are nonprofit funding organizations that offer sizable loans with generous repayment terms, even to businesses considered too “risky” by the banks.

Our guest for this episode is Ryan Raynard, the Chair of the Northwest CFDC Network and the Executive Director of the Lake of the Woods Business Incentive Corporation (LOWBIC).

Find a CFDC office in your community:

• Community Futures Ontario: Northwest Region
• Community Futures Ontario: Northeast Region

For more information about buying a cottage resort from a retiring owner, visit successionmatching.com.

Learn more about tourism investment opportunities in Northern Ontario at invest.destination northern ontario.ca. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn.

About the Destination: Northern Ontario podcast

If you came across a real estate listing for an affordable cottage resort deep in the boreal forest, would you be tempted to buy it?

If the answer is yes, then the Destination: Northern Ontario podcast is for you. By the end of this five-part series, you’ll learn everything you should know before buying or starting a tourism business in the north, and hear stories from people who’ve walked the path before and would do it all over again.

The podcast is hosted by Michelle Samson and produced for Destination Northern Ontario by Storied Places Media.