Restaurants Face Bankruptcy as CEBA Loan Deadline Looms Despite Soaring Costs
• Restaurants Canada warns that 53% of food service operators are losing money or barely breaking even, pleading for an extension of the CEBA loan repayment deadline on Jan 18.
• CEBA offered interest-free loans of up to $60K to small businesses during the pandemic. A third can be forgiven if repaid by Jan 18 deadline.
• Businesses say they face bankruptcy without an extension due to dramatically increased costs and inability to raise prices sufficiently.
• The government has extended the principal repayment deadline to 2026, but businesses want the loan forgiveness deadline extended another year.
• Industry groups like Restaurants Canada and CFIB continue to lobby hard for an extension with 55K petition signatures, but no extension confirmed yet.