A person walks in Kensington Market in Toronto on Wednesday, April 15, 2020. New Democrats and a business group are calling on the federal government to extend the deadline for small businesses to repay loans they received from a pandemic support program. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette
OTTAWA – New Democrats and a business group are calling on the federal government to extend the deadline for small businesses to repay loans they received from a pandemic support program.
The Canada Emergency Business Account program provided about 900,000 small businesses and not-for-profits up to $60,000 in interest-free loans during the pandemic.
The deadline to repay these loans was extended last year to December 31, 2023 to ease pressure on businesses still recovering from the pandemic.
But now, both the NDP and the Canadian Federation of Independent Business are calling for this deadline to be extended again, with the federation claiming nearly 20 per cent of businesses are at risk of closure without an extension.
Businesses that pay back their loans by the end of the year are eligible to have up to a third of their loans forgiven.
Those that don’t would see their debts converted to a two-year loan with interest of five per cent annually.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 11, 2023.
