Some small business owners in Canada are asking the federal government to consider the challenges they face as the deadline for repayment of some of the emergency government loans issued during the pandemic approaches.
Businesses face a Jan. 18 deadline to repay loans of up to $60,000 received through the Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA) program. Businesses that repay the majority of their loans on time will receive up to $20,000 in remaining funds forgiven by the federal government.
Loans that are not repaid on time will begin accruing interest.
Angela O’Brien told CBC she owns a lingerie store in West Kelowna, British Columbia. the house She was able to receive the full $60,000 from the government, but needed to repay the first $40,000 and obtain an additional loan from the bank to secure the forgivable portion of $20,000. This will put her on the government’s good books, but it will leave her with a huge responsibility.
The prime minister and business groups including the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) have called on Ottawa to extend the CEBA repayment deadline for the roughly 900,000 companies that participated in the program. Congressional budget officials estimate that extending the deadline by one year would cost the federal government nearly $1 billion.
the house15:08Tough deadline looms for thousands of small business owners
CFIB Chairman Dan Kelly said in a statement Thursday: “Following numerous discussions with the government, we are confident that the current January 18 deadline will not be extended at the last minute.” .
Mr O’Brien told host Catherine Cullen that the government needed to step up to support small and medium-sized businesses, which regularly face hardship, despite the costs involved. She cited the example of last summer’s wildfires in British Columbia, where smoke damage forced all stocks to be replaced.
O’Brien argued that the federal government:
