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House Hansard - 242

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
October 30, 2023 11:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 242 - Oct/30/23
Ms. Rachel Bendayan (Parliamentary Secretary to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Lib.)
  • Oct/30/23 6:35:21 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for his question, which is very important to our entrepreneurs and SMEs across Canada, including back home in Montreal and across Quebec. I would also like to thank the member for Courtenay—Alberni, who worked with me back in the pandemic on many supports for our entrepreneurs and small businesses. It was thanks to a lot of collaborative work in the House between members on behalf of small businesses that we were able to put in supports that were absolutely critical in ensuring that entrepreneurs could keep their doors open at a very difficult time. It was actually a lifeline for small business, having the CEBA program and the loans that were provided. Our government is taking action now in order to provide greater flexibility to small business owners who are finding it difficult to repay those loans. I appreciate the member opposite raising some concerns with the flexibilities we have put in place. The Canada emergency business account, which was created as part of our overall response to the pandemic, has helped maintain economic stability and keep small businesses afloat, while keeping workers in the workforce. Our government is committed to supporting SMEs, and our commitment to this program is emblematic of our unwavering support for businesses and workers. More than one million more Canadians are employed today than before the pandemic. This tells us that the plan we put in place during the pandemic has worked. We have recovered more jobs than we lost in the first months of the pandemic. Both the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the International Monetary Fund predict that Canada will have the strongest growth in the G7 in 2024. CEBA alone provided about $49 billion in emergency support to over 900,000 small businesses across the country, including non-profits that were absolutely essential in supporting Canadians during the pandemic and continue to support Canadians today. These businesses and not-for-profit organizations have been and continue to be the backbone of our communities. They provide good-paying jobs. They also provide essential services to Canadians. I am here to reiterate our government's unwavering commitment to support those small businesses. We have recognized, of course, and I have taken many of these calls, as has the Minister of Small Business, that businesses, particularly small businesses, have seen some challenges in repaying those important loans. We understand the requirements and complexities involved in a small business. Recognizing that the end of the year is a particularly busy time for small businesses, we are extending the deadline for repayment to qualify for partial forgiveness of the loan in an amount not exceeding $20,000 to January 18, 2024. We are also offering businesses the possibility of obtaining partial forgiveness of their loan until March 28, 2024, provided they apply for refinancing through their financial institution.
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Context: House Hansard - 242 - Oct/30/23
Ms. Rachel Bendayan
  • Oct/30/23 6:40:32 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I appreciate my NDP colleague's arguments. As I was saying earlier, we have brought in flexible measures to help SMEs make the necessary repayments, and we have spoken with financial institutions. Financial institutions are in contact with SMEs, and SMEs must negotiate with them. Furthermore, we have offered businesses the possibility of partial loan forgiveness until March 28, 2024, as I said earlier. We have a range of measures to help SMEs. We have cut taxes for SMEs twice. We have also worked with our partners at Visa and Mastercard to reduce credit card fees for SMEs. We will continue to work hand in hand with SMEs.
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