A quarter of a million small businesses in Canada, roughly 19 percent of all small businesses in the country, may have to shut down next year if the government does not extend a deadline to repay COVID loans, according to an industry group.
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) issued a statement on June 7 stating that small businesses that cannot meet Ottawa’s Dec. 31 deadline to repay the Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA) loan could be forced out of business.
The CEBA program provided interest-free loans of up to $60,000 to small businesses and not-for-profits. According to small business statistics for 2022 from Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, there were some 1.19 million small businesses—those with 1 to 99 paid employees—in Canada as of December 2021….