How Canadian specialty trade contractors can finance tools, vehicles, and equipment together using leases, truck financing, and smart working capital.
Short answer: Most Canadian energy businesses are better off leasing generators, compressors, and related power equipment over their useful life and keeping separate working capital tools for fuel, labour, and project timing. In practice, that means using equipment leases, heavy equipment programs, asset-based lending, and sale–leaseback on your fleet, while backing projects with lines of credit and term loans – not short-term, high-cost products.
Power and compression are mission-critical in Canada’s energy sector, but the price tags are big and revenue can be lumpy. The real challenge isn’t just “What generator should we buy?” – it’s “How do we pay for a fleet of generators, compressors, and support gear without strangling cash flow?”
Canada is an energy nation: crude oil and natural gas made up over 80% of primary energy production in 2023, with electricity and other sources making up the balance. The oil and gas industry alone contributed about $71.4 billion (3.2%) of Canada’s GDP in 2022. Add in renewables, mining, and remote industrial projects and you get a long list of businesses that live or die by generators and compressors.
Typical costs today:
Most SMEs can’t (and shouldn’t) pay that kind of money in cash, especially when they also need trucks, people, and fuel. Almost half of Canadian SMEs (49.3%) requested external financing in 2023, including lease financing and debt.
So the question becomes: how do you structure financing so a generator or compressor pays for itself over time, instead of draining your working capital on day one?
Key point: Long-life assets like generators and compressors should sit on long-term, asset-backed facilities; short-life items and project timing issues should sit on working-capital tools. Mixing them is how energy businesses end up over-levered and under-funded.
From a credit analyst’s chair, energy-sector files are a balancing act between:
That’s exactly why specialist funders have built energy-focused leasing and financing programs – they understand that power and compression are essential, but cash flows can be uneven.
Structurally, a healthier capital stack usually looks like this:
Your generators and compressors are long-life, revenue-producing assets – they should be financed like it.
Key point: Generators are ideal candidates for equipment leasing and asset-based financing because they’re movable, have clear serial numbers, and hold strong resale value in Canada’s energy, construction, and remote-power markets.
The energy sector uses generators in different ways:
Gensets in the 100–500 kW range are the sweet spot: big enough to be valuable, small enough to be redeployed. With prices running from tens of thousands into the low hundreds of thousands per unit, funding them from cash is usually neither necessary nor smart.
Under Mehmi’s equipment leases and heavy equipment financing programs, you can typically:
For companies running multiple projects or a rental fleet, an equipment line of credit can streamline purchases:
This is especially useful as Canada ramps up projects like LNG export facilities and renewables, where temporary and backup generation will remain in high demand around construction and commissioning.
Key point: Compressors are the “hidden engine” of many energy operations, from drilling and gas gathering to plant utilities. Their cost profile and long service life make them perfect for equipment financing rather than short-term credit.
Industrial compressors come in many forms: rotary screw, reciprocating, centrifugal, gas compression skids, and more. In the 50–100 HP range, modern rotary screw air compressors typically cost $20,000–$70,000, while 100+ HP units can run $70,000–$150,000 or more. Gas compressors and full skids for gathering or gas lift can easily hit six-figure numbers.
For compressors, Mehmi’s approach is similar to generators:
If you’re adding multiple compressors across sites, an equipment line of credit again makes sense: you approve the concept once, then deploy capital as projects go live, instead of renegotiating every time you need air.
Key point: You can finance generators, compressors, light towers, fuel tanks, and other site power gear in a coordinated way without forcing them into one ugly, all-purpose loan. The trick is to use one advisor and a combination of leases and lines.
In the field, you rarely buy a single item. A typical package for an energy-sector contractor might include:
Instead of trying to jam all of that into one bank term loan or a stack of vendor finance contracts, Mehmi can:
Behind the scenes, this might involve a mix of:
From your perspective, it feels like one plan: everything that powers and supports your jobsites is covered, and payments are sized to how you actually earn revenue.
Key point: Even perfectly structured leases can’t save a project if you’re always short on fuel money or waiting 60 days on a big invoice. Keep equipment and working capital clearly separated.
Generators and compressors are only half the story. You also have to fund:
That’s where Mehmi’s business loans come in:
For larger, asset-backed situations, a secured loan might make sense; for smaller, specific needs, a well-sized unsecured loan can patch a gap without tying up more assets.
One strong opinion: resist the temptation to “solve” working-capital gaps with high-cost merchant cash advances. With effective rates often many times higher than bank or lease financing, they’re a poor match for energy projects that already carry commodity and schedule risk.
Key point: If you already own generators and compressors, or have partially paid equipment loans, you may be sitting on the collateral to fix your capital stack – without selling gear or pledging your house.
Energy cycles are rough. Many contractors and service companies took on expensive financing during high-rate or crisis periods. Now, with a stronger fleet and some equity in their equipment, they want to move to more sustainable structures.
Two tools are especially useful:
This approach is particularly well-suited to companies responding to new regulations – for example, Canadian operators facing pressure to reduce gas flaring and invest in gas-capture compressors and power solutions rather than simply burning off gas.
Key point: Financing in the energy sector now means thinking not only about this year’s contracts but also how your equipment positions you for an energy system that’s gradually decarbonizing.
The Canada Energy Regulator’s Energy Future scenarios show a world where oil and gas production evolves under rising climate constraints, carbon pricing, and technology shifts. At the same time, Canada is growing its LNG export capacity and expanding renewables, including wind and solar projects.
On the ground, that means:
From a financing perspective, Mehmi looks at:
Energy isn’t going away; it’s shifting. The right financing helps you shift with it, instead of getting stuck with yesterday’s fleet and yesterday’s structures.
Key point: Spending a few hours to map your assets, debts, and pipeline – then designing a financing structure with a specialist – will almost always beat grabbing whatever loan or lease is in front of you at the dealer.
Here’s a practical roadmap for an energy-sector business in Canada:
List your major assets:
For each, note:
Cross-check against Mehmi’s eligible equipment list to see what’s most financeable.
Ask yourself:
This lets you distinguish between must-have equipment and nice-to-have wish-list items.
As a rule of thumb:
With your Mehmi advisor, slot each planned asset into equipment financing or business loans buckets.
If you’re carrying:
…these are prime candidates for refinancing or sale-leaseback, especially if you have strong generators or compressors with equity in them.
Use Mehmi’s calculator to:
Then test your structure against conservative scenarios:
If the model only works in a perfect world, adjust the scope or terms until it fits your real risk profile.
Before you sign equipment quotes or contracts:
Once approvals are in place, you can move quickly when the right generator or compressor becomes available – which matters in tight markets and during storm seasons.
Profile (details changed for privacy)
The challenge
Over several years of rapid growth, the company:
By 2024, they had strong demand – especially around gas-capture and emissions-reduction projects – but:
What Mehmi did
The result (18 months later)
They didn’t borrow less. They borrowed smarter – using generators, compressors, and related equipment as the backbone of a sustainable capital structure.
For most energy-sector businesses, leasing or financing is a better default than paying cash. A Mehmi equipment lease or heavy equipment facility:
Buying outright can make sense for very cash-rich, low-growth operations, but for project-driven businesses, tying up capital in iron usually creates more problems than it solves.
Yes. Used generators and compressors are often excellent collateral as long as:
Mehmi can structure used assets via equipment leases, asset based lending, or sale-leaseback when they fit eligible equipment criteria.
You can finance them as part of one coordinated plan, but it’s usually smarter to use a combination of structures:
Mehmi coordinates these pieces so it feels like a single solution operationally, even if there are multiple facilities under the hood.
Gas-capture compressors, flare gas-to-power packages, and higher-tier engines can usually be treated like other capital equipment. Given growing attention on flaring and emissions in Canada, lenders understand this gear is increasingly central to winning contracts and maintaining licences.
Mehmi can fund this via:
Often yes. If you own units outright or have low remaining balances, refinancing or sales leaseback is a common way to:
A Mehmi advisor can review your fleet, existing obligations, and upcoming projects to see whether refinancing genuinely improves your position.
Banks and OEMs are important partners, but they typically focus on their product: one term loan, one vendor program. Mehmi sits across:
That broader view lets Mehmi design a capital stack that fits the realities of the Canadian energy sector – commodity cycles, long receivables, ESG pressure – rather than forcing everything into one one-size-fits-no-one loan. If you’re planning upgrades or expansion in the next 6–24 months, starting a conversation through Contact Us can give you a clearer, more bankable plan.
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