The deadlines for businesses to pay back their emergency pandemic loans is being extended.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Wednesday that small businesses will now have until the end of 2023 to pay back their Canada Emergency Business Account loans.
The program provides a $60,000 loan to businesses which have seen a drop in revenue due to the pandemic, with $20,000 of possible debt forgiveness.
The Minister of International Trade, Small Business and Economic Development, Mary Ng, says the program provides flexibility.
She says the extension will allow businesses to manage their cash flows, with almost 900,000 businesses taking advantage of the loan.
Trudeau is also encouraging businesses to utilize the wage subsidy program to keep employees on.
He says the wage subsidy is retroactive, so employers should keep people on. He says more people being tied to their jobs ensures a speedy recovery post-pandemic.