Small business owners are holding out hope for a further extension of the deadline to repay loans under the Canada Emergency Business Account, The Globe and Mail reports. At present, debtors can be forgiven up to one-third of the amount of their loans if they pay back the outstanding sum by Jan. 18, 2024.
“I really worry that if government pushes too hard and keeps to its current CEBA deadline, there will be many businesses, we estimate up to 250,000 small businesses that will fail, if they lose out on the forgivable portion of this loan,” said Dan Kelly, president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.
All 13 provincial and territorial premiers have backed calls for an extension, along with the federal NDP, Bloc Québecois, and Green Party.
