A fifth to a quarter have not paid pandemictime govt support
Insolvencies rose 38 in first 11 months of 2023official data

OTTAWA, Feb 1 Reuters Thousands of Canadian small businesses face the risk of bankruptcy after the government ended pandemicera support last month with the economy slowing at a time of high interest rates.

Small firms that employ fewer than 100 people are critical to the Canadian economy as they give jobs to almost twothirds of the country39;s 12 million private workers. A spike in bankruptcies, which jumped 38 in the first 11 months of 2023, would weigh on economic growth, lobby groups and economists warn.

Last month, small businesses faced a deadline to repay interestfree loans of C60,000 44,676 made available to each of them during the pandemic. Of the 900,000 who had taken the government support, a fifth have not yet repaid their loans, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said on Monday. The Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses CFIB, a smallbusiness lobby group, estimates a quarter missed the deadline.

Katherine Cuplinskas, a spokesperson for the finance minister said in an emailed response to a Reuters question that the Department of Finance did not expect there will be a negative impact on the economy on account of repayment of the loans given as support during the pandemic. She said loan recipients have long had full information on timelines and have been able to plan accordingly.

There were about 1.2 million small businesses with…