(The Canadian Press)

By Derek Craddock

LOAN FORGIVENESS

CEBA extension welcome but not enough say Sask. business advocates

Sep 16, 2023 | 12:00 PM

The federal government has given another extension for businesses still paying a federal loan that started at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, but Saskatchewan business owners say it’s not enough.

Earlier this week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that the deadline for repaying the Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA) to Jan. 18, 2024. The original deadline, an extension in itself, was Dec. 31, 2023.

Another part of the announcement saw the Liberals commit to a partial loan forgiveness of up to 33 per cent.

That figure, however, is not enough according to the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), which said that the plan misses the most central issue.

“The most important part of CFIB’s campaign was to ensure that business owners could hold on to that $20,000 forgivable portion of the loan and in fact, we would have liked to see the forgivable portion increased from 33 per cent to 50 per cent,” said CFIB Prairie Director Brianna Solberg.

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Solberg added that over 8,000 small businesses in Saskatchewan, roughly 19 per cent, could be at risk of closing if they lose the forgivable portion of their CEBA loan.

According to CFIB data, about 44 per cent of Saskatchewan CEBA users risk missing the current repayment deadline by the end of 2023 with small businesses in the arts, recreation, and information, hospitality, and social services most likely to miss that deadline.

“Only around 12 per cent of those businesses have repaid their loans and even among those who could repay it today, they’ll still struggle to meet the deadline and over half of them would appreciate an extension that protects the forgivable portion,” added Solberg.

In Prince Albert, the local Chamber of Commerce said they welcomed the news of the extension but noted that many businesses still struggle years after the pandemic started.

“Many small businesses still needed some extra time and they’re just kind of starting to get their feet underneath of them after COVID,” said CEO of the Prince Albert & District Chamber of Commerce, Patty Hughes. “But there’s been a lot of other things that have happened that have affected them and so this was just a pending deadline that many were getting quite concerned about how they were going to be able to pay that back.”

Hughes did not have exact figures on how many P.A. businesses are currently using CEBA.

In the past few months, a CEBA petition started by the CFIB to extend the repayment deadline garnered over 40,000 signatures from small business owners across Canada.

The organization said they want a redo of the federal announcement, and they will continue to push for more time to repay the loan while protecting the forgivable portion.

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derek.craddock@pattisonmedia.com