Celebrating 45 Years in Canada

Mitsubishi HC Capital Canada is growing but growing methodically and with our customers always at the forefront. It was 2022 when we reached $2 billion in assets, and now we’ve crossed the $3 billion mark. However, that doesn’t tell our complete story. The way we’ve evolved with services, with technology, with employees, and most important, with our customers’ changing needs, tells the story of a unique Canadian company.

As Mitsubishi HC Capital Canada celebrates 45 years of doing business, now is the time to reflect on how we got here and where we’re going.

Setting the foundation: 1979

Back in 1979, an entrepreneurial group joined together to lay the foundations of what would set our company apart decade after decade. Canadian Leasing Enterprise Ltd. (CLE), which began operations in Grand-Mère, Québec, focused on small ticket leasing . The company financed equipment in industries ranging from beauty and spa to restaurants and technology. It was even the first company in Canada to finance an ATM machine .

What was most significant, though, was the niche CLE was carving out: working with businesses that had specific challenges in their growth paths. CLE established a reputation for creating tailored financing solutions for individual customers. Concurrently, working alongside smaller and growing companies gave them the opportunity to develop expertise in the business of credit risk analysis – expertise that remains a primary strength of our company today.

Expansion

The company started to grow. Customers became larger. Business expanded into the transportation industry. By 2008, the company moved beyond Quebec and opened an office in Burlington, Ontario.

Assets began to grow and headcount increased. Technology investments highlighted the early 1990s, with CLE Leasing being one of the first financial services companies in Canada to use the internet extensively. Still, the company maintained its core focus on establishing long-term relationships with customers that had unique needs. The mission was to work together, as partners, in growth.

Partnership with Hitachi Capital

The year 2012 was a turning point. Hitachi Capital America needed a servicer for its transportation clients in Canada. They liked CLE’s speed, efficiency and that core ability to offer financing solutions tailored to customers’ unique requirements.

CLE Leasing signed a partnership agreement, becoming Hitachi Capital America’s official representative in Canada. The collaboration was a fruitful one. Two years later, Hitachi Capital America purchased the common shares of CLE Leasing. While the business retained the CLE brand, the corporation legally became Hitachi Capital Canada.

In 2016, François Nantel took the helm as president of Hitachi Capital Canada. Business soared, with larger transactions, bigger customers and more diversified product offerings. Hitachi Capital Canada reached $1 billion in assets in 2018.

Mitsubishi

In 2021, Hitachi Capital Corp. and Mitsubishi UFJ Lease & Finance Co. merged and the end result was the creation of Mitsubishi HC Capital America. Now under that corporate umbrella, Hitachi Capital Canada was renamed Mitsubishi HC Capital Canada and remains based in Trois-Rivières, Quebec, with offices in Montreal, Laval, and Calgary, as well as Burlington. More than 250 employees work with customers in every province and territory.

The next 45 years

Financing $3 billion in assets is a major accomplishment that started from the ground up. Yet while we look forward to reaching the $4 billion, $5 billion and $10 billion milestones, that’s not the core of our future. Instead, our future looks more like this…

Relational: We will continue growing as a relational vendor, not a transactional one. More than ever, companies need a financial provider that will take the time and effort to understand their businesses.

• Helping customers meet their goals: Our goals are our customers’ goals. We continue to transform and add real value. We’ve created a Sustainable Development Group to help customers meet their sustainability goals, and a dedicated Digital Transformation Group to improve the customer and partner experience at every level, from sales and credit underwriting to operations and funding.
  
  
  
• Progressive solutions:
  Understanding the evolving needs of our customers and growing alongside them has always been a core focus. As business needs change, so do our capabilities. We’re offering innovative solutions like as-a-service financing. It allows a company to shift from capital expenditures to operating expenditures, all while receiving greater flexibility by bundling multiple services (ex: service and maintenance, consumables, spare parts, etc.).
  
  
  
• Advanced technology: Our digital transformation strategy includes a focus on productivity and cost efficiency while producing better customer results. Careful integration of technologies such as AI and robotic process automation are improving the customer experience and operational efficiencies.

• Cross-border capability: Seamless work with colleagues at Mitsubishi HC Capital America offers a combined, multi-national approach and skillset. We will be further expanding our teamwork and developing more joint financing programs, reaching more companies in more industries.

45 years brought change and growth. The future promises to bring more transformation, more success and more innovation. We encourage you to join us on this journey!