The Lost Code

Difficulty Getting Credit

Rural farmers, small manufacturers, craftsmen, and merchants needed credit to compete with big industrial producers. Most banks were located in the city. Before loaning out money, banks required guarantees that most small borrowers could not provide. Furthermore, banks did not offer the long term credit that farmers needed for their farming cycles, because they could not repay the borrowed sums until their harvests were sold. In the country, farmers therefore had to borrow from private lenders such as the notary or local merchant, or from pawnbrokers who charged prohibitive interest rates. Credit was therefore out of reach for people in rural Québec, which restricted economic development in these regions.