Winnipeg small business owner Barbara Best is facing an uncertain future as she struggles to repay the Canadian Emergency Business Account Loan (CEBA).
Her store, Lizzy B’s, is a custom framing and needle art supply store and she has owned it for six years.
“When I bought the store, the local market was sort of the thing you focused on. It wasn’t such an online game at the time, but COVID changed that.” she said.
Best, along with 900,000 small businesses across Canada, took out a $60,000 loan to keep business afloat during lockdowns.
The deadline to repay two-thirds of it — and receive 20 thousand dollars forgiven — is next week. But after years of lower sales, an expensive renovation and higher interest rates Best says she doesn’t have that kind of surplus.
“My debt ratio is already so high, I can’t get a loan to pay the CEBA $40,000, so I’m gonna end up having to pay the $60,000,” she said.
However, she is not alone in her struggle, as about a quarter of CEBA recipients are in the same boat as her, according to Dan Kelly from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.
“There are a lot of businesses that haven’t had a normal month of income in three straight years. And with cost increases on almost every line of the budget, including those imposed by the government, I worry about how much longer some of these businesses will be able to outrun their debt,” he said.
Best says she is trying to crowdfund and works a second job as a server to pay the bills. She is trying to save the business she’s put her heart into for so many years.
“I love what I do. This is not a business where I’m going to make a zillion dollars. People come in here with their project, I spend 25 minutes with them trying to find the right colours and it leads to maybe a $15 sale. I don’t care. I love that.” she said.
— With files from Global’s Katherine Dornian