As the deadline to repay pandemic loans and receive partial forgiveness approaches, small businesses are still hoping the federal government will reverse course and extend it for another year.
Nearly 900-thousand organizations took out a loan from the Canada Emergency Business Account program during the pandemic, a federal initiative that offered up to 60-thousand dollars in interest-free loans.
The deadline for small businesses to pay back these loans and receive up to a third in forgiveness is mid-January next year, but business groups have been calling for more time to pay back the loans, saying there are ongoing challenges facing small businesses post-pandemic.
However, with just over two months until the deadline, the chances of another extension are dwindling.
Dan Kelly, the president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, says the fall economic statement serves as one of the last chances for the federal government to provide the extension.
The government has already made several changes to the program's deadlines in response to calls for more leniency from the small business community.