NDP sponsors petition to extend CEBA deadline with loan forgiveness to help small businesses « Canada’s NDP
OTTAWA – NDP MP Taylor Bachrach (Skeena – Bulkley Valley) is calling on the government to extend the Canada Emergency Benefit Account (CEBA) loan forgiveness until the end of 2024 to give small businesses who are struggling with high costs a needed break.
Bachrach has sponsored a parliamentary petition that would see small businesses keep the up to $20,000 CEBA loan forgiveness they were promised even with taking a year-long extension on repayment.
“Local businesses continue to struggle in the face of inflation, interest rates and staffing challenges,” said Bachrach. “The CEBA loans provided vital assistance at the height of the pandemic, but now those businesses need a bit more time, and they shouldn’t have to give up the loan forgiveness offer to get it.”
After months of calls to extend the loan’s deadline from the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses (CFIB), small businesses and the NDP – the Liberals finally granted one, except it’s only 18 days unless businesses forgo the promised $20,000 loan forgiveness or refinance the interest rates.
Without a full-fledged extension – that maintains the loan forgiveness, more than 250,000 Canadian businesses will be in jeopardy and nearly 47 per cent of the CFIB’s members in British Columbia are at risk of having to close their doors.
“Partial loan forgiveness was what made the CEBA loans attractive to many small businesses,” added Bachrach. “It was disappointing to see the Liberals only extend loan forgiveness by three weeks and that the Conservatives have been silent on this. But there still is an opportunity here for the Liberals to correct their oversight and extend the loan forgiveness.”
“If these small businesses lose access to the forgivable portion of their loans, the closure of businesses that are the hub of our communities won’t have been prevented, only postponed. I hope this petition will show the government how many people across the country want the Liberals to stop dragging their feet by giving small businesses a fighting chance.”