Crewline helps PEI contractors, trades, farms, carriers, suppliers, and fishery-adjacent operators match holdback pressure, payroll, fuel, invoices, and bank declines to the financing route that fits.
Not ready to apply?Call or text 780-830-8726— a real person, no credit pull.Most provinces hold back 10%. Manitoba holds 7.5%. Prince Edward Island's Mechanics' Lien Act opens section 14 with the heading "Hold back of twenty per cent" — and there is no payment clock behind it. A smaller market, seasonal revenue, and more cash trapped after completion is a hard combination.
Section 14 is headed "Hold back of twenty per cent." Once the value of the work and material exceeds $15,000 the rate drops to fifteen — so every real commercial job sits at 15%, against 10% almost everywhere else in Canada.
That $15,000 line comes from the 1974 revision of the Act and has never been raised for inflation. Today it separates almost nothing from almost everything.
The Act contains no prompt-payment provisions and no adjudication mechanism — neither term appears anywhere in it. Ontario, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba each give a contractor a statutory deadline and a way to escalate. On the Island there is the contract, and there is court.
A registered lien normally lasts 90 days before it dies unless you sue. But under section 28, anyone claiming an interest in the land can serve you 30 days after registration and start a fresh 30-day clock. An owner who wants your lien gone can halve your runway.
A Charlottetown subcontractor, a Summerside carrier, a potato farm, and a shellfish operation do not have the same problem, even under the same statute.
Holdbacks, seasonality, farm input costs, fuel, inventory, and commercial invoices each create a different file.
Construction, trades, suppliers, and service firms working against progress draws, a 15% holdback, payroll, and commercial customer terms with no statutory deadline behind them.
Carriers, contractors, processors, and seasonal operators carrying fuel, repairs, inventory, and wages before the cash catches up.
Seed, fertilizer, fuel, labour, feed, and repairs land months before crop, livestock, or contract revenue. Farms are ineligible for the CSBFP and route to CALA.
Marine files turn on crew, fuel, gear, supplies, settlement timing, and a revenue season that the invoice date does not control.
The right PEI path depends on whether the pressure is a one-time gap, a recurring swing, a slow invoice, a holdback, a farm season, or a bank decline.
Payroll, fuel, supplier bills, materials, rent, insurance, inventory, and short-term operating pressure.
Recurring uneven months, seasonal costs, job timing, farm inputs, and unpredictable draws.
Completed work, slow-paying commercial customers, clean invoices, and 30–90 day terms.
Short track record, bruised credit, uneven deposits, or an industry the bank cooled on.
Answer four questions and see where the file probably starts. This is a guide, not an approval, and it is not legal advice.
Working capital review
Start with a short-term operating-capital fit check. The story should explain what is due, when revenue lands, and how repayment fits the deposit pattern.
Advisory only. This is not an approval, and it is not legal advice.
Alternative lenders often focus on recent deposits and repayment capacity. Invoice products focus on the payer and the paperwork. Program-backed routes need eligibility and lender-ready documentation.
Recent business bank statements show current lender appetite faster than a vague annual revenue claim.
Payroll, fuel, inventory, materials, holdback pressure, or supplier bills should connect to a repayable plan.
For invoice financing, the payer's credit and clean paperwork matter more than the applicant's years in business.
A bruised file may still work if cash flow supports the request and the route is realistic.
For eligible non-farm small businesses, the Canada Small Business Financing Program can sit beside private financing routes. The question is not only eligibility — it is whether the file, the timing, and the use of funds fit a lender's process.
Farming businesses are excluded from the program and are served instead by the Canadian Agricultural Loans Act. That matters on the Island, where agriculture is a large share of the economy — a farm file that walks through the CSBFP door is walking through the wrong one.
Holdbacks, payment timing, lien windows, bank declines, and what Crewline does after the fit check.
More than anywhere else in Canada. Section 14 of the Mechanics' Lien Act is headed "Hold back of twenty per cent" and requires the owner to retain 20% of the value of the work and material for 60 days after the contract is completed or abandoned. Where that value exceeds $15,000 the rate falls to 15% — so in practice almost every commercial job is held at 15%, against 10% in Ontario, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, and 7.5% in Manitoba. The $15,000 threshold dates from the 1974 revision of the Act and has never been raised.
Because more of your money is locked up after completion, for longer, while payroll, fuel, suppliers, and materials keep moving weekly. On a $200,000 job the Island holdback is $30,000, released 60 days after completion. That is working capital you have already earned, and bridging it is a different financing problem from borrowing money you have not.
There is no statutory deadline. The Mechanics' Lien Act contains no prompt-payment provisions and no adjudication mechanism — neither term appears anywhere in it. An owner's obligation is whatever the contract says. Ontario, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba all give a contractor a legislated payment deadline and an adjudicator to escalate to; Prince Edward Island does not.
Sixty days from the completion or abandonment of the contract, under section 24(4). Once registered, the lien ceases to exist 90 days from registration unless you have commenced an action. Be careful with that 90 days: under section 28, anyone claiming an interest in the land can wait 30 days after your registration, serve you notice, and force the lien to die unless you sue within 30 days of the mailing. This is context for a financing file, not legal advice — take a lien question to a lawyer.
No. Farming businesses are ineligible for the Canada Small Business Financing Program and are served instead by the Canadian Agricultural Loans Act. That matters on the Island, where agriculture is a large share of the economy. Private working capital and a seasonal line of credit remain available regardless, and equipment financing routes to IronFinance.
Often, yes. A decline can mean the file did not match that bank's current policy. Crewline can route the file toward lenders that look harder at revenue, deposits, receivables, and the use of funds.
No. Crewline is a matching and referral service. Financing is provided by third-party lenders who set their own terms and approval criteria.
A few questions about your business, deposits, receivables, holdback pressure, and likely route. No credit pull to start — a real person reviews the request.
