Extend the current Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA) repayment deadline of Dec. 31.

That’s the message the Yukon Party had for the federal government on Tuesday.

In doing so, the official Opposition is joining such organizations as the Yukon Chamber of Commerce, the Tourism Industry Association of the Yukon, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and Restaurants Canada.

An estimated 900,000 businesses across Canada, including the Yukon, received the loan to keep their operations going during the COVID-19 pandemic. Businesses could borrow as much as $60,000.

“Many small businesses are still not yet back on their feet,” the Yukon Party said. “The combination of high interest rates, inflation and increased labour costs limit small- and medium-sized businesses still recovering from the pandemic.

“The government should find ways to reduce the cost of doing business and help these small- and medium-sized businesses recover, not increasing costs and calling in loans.”

Party leader Currie Dixon called small- and medium-sized businesses “the lifeblood of our economy, and many are still suffering after a disastrous past few years.

“Now is not the time to add to their cost of doing business. The federal government should extend the repayment deadline for CEBA loans to allow businesses to get their heads above water.”

The Canadian Chamber of Commerce has released numbers from a recent survey of CEBA loan-holder companies.

It found that 49 per cent of small businesses are still making below-normal revenues.

It also discovered that 50 per cent of Canadian food service operators are currently operating at a loss or breaking even compared to 12 per cent pre-pandemic.

As well, 45 per cent of Canada’s tourism businesses are likely or somewhat likely to close within the next three years without government intervention into their mounting debt load.

On July 24, more than 280 industry associations from across Canada signed a letter urging 
the extension.

Dixon has also written a letter to federal Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland outlining the Yukon Party’s support for the request from businesses. If a business owing $60,000 repays $40,000 by Dec. 31, the federal government has indicated it would forgive the outstanding $20,000.