This is a challenge. Chambers of commerce across Canada and various other organizations have all sounded the warning bell on this. We appreciate that the government was open to an extension, but that extension of potentially three weeks is not going to be sufficient for a lot of these businesses to go find investment or loans from banks. It's simply not an option for a number of businesses that we've talked to. The reality is that a number of these businesses that continue to have these extensive loans are in significant trouble.
Here's the challenge. The CEBA loans were greatly appreciated during the pandemic because it was a very difficult time for small businesses across Canada. There was a sense that once we got out of the pandemic, things would return to normal, but things didn't return to normal. It became a piling on. We dealt with inflationary pressures, workforce challenges and supply chain challenges.
Businesses in many industries are still not back to prepandemic levels. We're going to continue to urge the federal government and legislators for the extension of the program. It's not that businesses don't want to repay it; they just need more time. There are a number of reasons for that. That fear of potentially 19% of those businesses having to close their doors and lay off employees is going to have a much more negative impact than pushing off by a year when those payments have to go to the government.
We strongly encourage the government to rethink the position they're taking.