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Deadline to qualify for forgivable portion of CEBA looms for Canadian businesses

Thursday will mark the deadline for Canadian businesses to repay pandemic loans and receive partial forgiveness.

Business groups say that will spell closure for thousands of struggling firms.

Almost 900,000 businesses and non-profits received a Canada Emergency Business Account loan during the COVID-19 pandemic, getting up to $60,000 in interest-free loans to help them survive.

Up to one-third of the loans could be forgiven if the outstanding amount is repaid by Thursday — otherwise, the debt will be converted into a three-year loan with five per cent annual interest.

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business and Restaurants Canada have both called for the deadline to be extended again.

CFIB president Dan Kelly says in a press release that for many businesses, this deadline will be “the straw that breaks the camel’s back.”

But the federal government seems to have no appetite for any additional extensions.

“We are now far enough from the pandemic that we do have to wrap up pandemic programs,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said at a press conference Wednesday morning.

With files from Talent Canada