Nearly 20% of Canadian Small Businesses Risk Closing if COVID Loan Deadline Not Extended: Industry Group

Businesses have not fully recovered from pandemic

A storefront on Roncesvalles Avenue displays a "for lease" sign as part of a protest against the Ontario government's pandemic lockdown rules, in Toronto on Nov. 24, 2020. The Canadian Press/Jody White

A quarter of a million small businesses in Canada, roughly 19 percent of all small businesses in the country, may have to shut down next year if the government does not extend a deadline to repay COVID loans, according to an industry group.

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) issued a statement on June 7 stating that small businesses that cannot meet Ottawa’s Dec. 31 deadline to repay the Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA) loan could be forced out of business.