‘We’ve seen some close their doors already’: CFIB on CEBA payment deadline

As of December 2023, only 40 per cent of CFIB members reported having paid back their loans, and 'an alarming 17 per cent were quite certain' they wouldn't meet deadline.

For some, it’s an average day. But for 23,000 Manitoba businesses, it’s a big one.

Thursday is the deadline for businesses to pay off their Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA) loans.

Brianna Solberg, director of legislative affairs for Prairies and Northern Canada with the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), said this is unfortunate timing.

“It’s more difficult now to be in business than it was at the height of the pandemic, just because of all those cost increases and other challenges,” she said. “So not to mention the federal government has piled on several other tax hikes. (Canada Pension Plan) and (Employment Insurance) premiums have increased, and the carbon tax will go up on April 1st as well.”

As of December 2023, only 40 per cent of CFIB members reported having paid back their loans, and “an alarming 17 per cent were quite certain that they wouldn’t meet this Jan. 18 deadline,” Solberg said, adding that 57,000 businesses signed a petition to the federal government asking for a deadline extension to the end of 2024.

The original deadline was set for Dec. 31, 2022. It was extended to Dec. 31, 2023 in September 2023.

Many have been scrambling to get their payments in, because it means they can have up to one-third of their debt forgiven.

“Many have had to jump through hoops to secure that financing. That involves maybe going to the bank, taking out another loan at a higher interest rate,” Solberg said.