pandemic – ZWWBusiness

A federal pandemic business loan is coming due. Some in N.S. can’t afford to pay

Small businesses in Nova Scotia are bracing for Jan. 18, the date Canadian Emergency Business Account loan repayments come due.

The federal money was given to small businesses and not-for-profits in April 2020 to help lessen the impacts of the COVID-19 lockdown. The money has to be repaid by Jan. 18 in order to receive loan forgiveness of up to $20,000.

Duncan Robertson, a senior policy analyst with the Canadian Federation of Independent Business in Nova Scotia, told CBC’s Information Morning Halifax this week that four in 10 businesses in Nova Scotia will be able to pay back the loan, a quarter will have to borrow money to get the loan forgiveness, two in 10 won’t be able to make the deadline and the rest don’t know what will happen.

“If they do miss that January deadline, they will go from having $40,000 debt on Jan. 18 to $60,000 debt,” Robertson said.

“They’ll have to pay that five per cent interest and then they’ll have until Dec. 31, 2026 to fully repay that CEBA loan.”

Robertson said the federation is concerned for the more than 16,000 small Nova Scotia businesses that took the loan and were counting on the forgivable portion. He said they’re hoping the federal government will extend the forgivable loan by a year so businesses have time to catch up.

“When they took that loan, we weren’t really sure what the economic realities would be and now many are faced with high costs and rising interest rates, so we’re asking government to take that into account … we found that would benefit around 95 per cent of businesses that took that loan,” said Robertson.

‘Bad time for a lot of small businesses’

The Restaurant Association of Nova Scotia said half of the establishments are either just breaking even or operating at a loss.

“With increased expenses across the board and high debt loads, many businesses will not be able to pay back their CEBA loans by the determined deadline,” the restaurant association said in a statement. “We urge the Federal Government to extend the repayment deadline as restaurants continue to recover from closures during the pandemic and navigate challenges in the industry.”

Brendan Doherty, the owner of Edible Matters and The Old Triangle Irish Alehouse, said the loan repayments are coming at “a terrible time for small businesses.” He said the loans were “a lifeline that kept

Opinion: Small business pandemic loans must be repaid in full, even if companies risk going under

A person walks in Kensington Market in Toronto on 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.Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press

Gus Carlson is a U.S.-based columnist for The Globe and Mail.

Just as there’s no crying in baseball, no “I” in team and no place like home, there is no such thing as a free lunch.

Like so many sensibilities tested by the pandemic, however, this basic tenet of free-market economics – and point on the moral compass that guides the conduct of most reasonable people – is under fire, and unjustifiably so.

Consider the pushback by a coalition of businesses on the repayment of pandemic-era interest-free loans of either $40,000 or $60,000 from the Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA). Ottawa says businesses that repay their obligations by Dec. 31 will have either $10,000 or $20,000 forgiven. After that, there will be no forgiveness and interest will accrue at the rate of 5 per cent.

Many lenders would say that’s a pretty good deal – maybe not a free lunch but a nicely discounted one. But it isn’t sweet enough for some business owners, who are asking Ottawa to extend the interest-free provision or even forgive a greater portion of these loans. This is needed especially, some businesses say, because the enterprises that stepped up to the CEBA trough are more likely to be owned by women and marginalized groups.

To be sure, the dilemma is something of a Gordian knot. Balancing the needs of the few with those of the many is never an easy task. And with some businesses that took CEBA loans facing extinction if the repayment terms aren’t eased, it’s a matter of the many picking their poison for the government – prop up the program or face a heavier unemployment burden.

Extending CEBA deadline would help marginalized businesses, groups say

For some, the moral dilemma on the part of Ottawa is real. One small-business owner told The Globe and Mail last week that she was wrestling with the decision of whether to repay her loan or invest in her company to take advantage of improving market conditions. Unlike some businesses, she at least seems to have a choice – even if there is only one