restaurants might have been busier over the recent crucial holiday period, but their patrons have been spending less, often hitting happy hours instead of reservations for more expensive meals, tostenson said.
“the business was there from a customer count,” tostenson said. but the profit was not, he said.
many businesses are also carrying additional debts taken on during the pandemic, aside from ceba, which makes the prospect of rolling that debt over into a term loan, with another monthly payment, untenable, tostenson said.
restaurants canada, the national industry group, estimated 53 per cent of canadian restaurants are only breaking even or operating at a loss, which it says underlines their last-minute plea for an extension of the ceba deadline.
prospects for an extension of that ceba deadline, however, are diminishing with deputy prime minister chrystia freeland holding firm on jan. 18 in recent statements, noting that the deadline has already been extended.
the first repayment deadline was dec. 31, 2022, which was then extended to dec. 31, 2023, owing to a business recovery that wasn’t as robust as hoped.
under pressure from business groups, opposition mps and provincial premiers — including b.c. premier david eby — ottawa extended the deadline again, but just until jan. 18.