The Canadian Emergency Business Account program (CEBA), which was due to wind up Aug. 31 has been extended to Oct. 31.
The program has been helpful to some farmers, but not to many others who have expressed frustration with the reasons for rejection by the government agencies administering the program.
The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Chrystia Freeland made the announcement as many scrambled to continue to try to get their applications approved before the program was supposed to have ended Aug. 31.
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The government said that more details will be forthcoming, including a new business account opening process that businesses can use to apply to the program.
Farmers without business bank accounts have found they have been rejected.
The program will loan $40,000 to help small businesses and non-profit organizations cover operating costs including rent, utilities and insurance while their revenues have been reduced because of the pandemic.
If the loans are repaid by Dec. 31, 2022, then 25 per cent, or $10,000 of the loan will be forgiven.
As of Aug. 27, more than 730,000 CEBA loans have been approved, representing more than $29 billion in credit disbursed.
