The federal government shows no sign of easing again the repayment conditions of emergency loans granted to companies affected by health measures at the peak of the pandemic, despite repeated requests from elected officials and groups advocating for entrepreneurs' interests.

With an important deadline approaching, some companies are still trying to sort out their options for repaying government dues, while others face surprises.

Confusion among entrepreneurs...

Nearly 900,000 companies benefited from the Canadian Emergency Business Account (CEBA). Their owners have only three days left - until January 18 - to repay their loan of up to $60,000 if they want to be exempted from part of this loan.

These entrepreneurs can also try to refinance their loan and repay the government by the end of March to retain the right to partial forgiveness.

Also, according to the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), the federal government was slow to clarify the repayment terms of Canadian Emergency Business Account (CEBA) loans, which total more than $49 billion. Some small and medium-sized businesses may have received conflicting information from Ottawa and its financial institutions in recent weeks.

Christina Santini, National Affairs Director at the CFIB, pointed out that many entrepreneurs are struggling to understand the different repayment options for emergency loans granted during the pandemic.

Anya Jamila is one of the entrepreneurs for whom repaying the Canadian Emergency Business Account (CEBA) loan causes a lot of trouble.

During the pandemic, her audiovisual production company's activities were completely shut down, as the $40,000 amount she receives through the Canadian Emergency Business Account (CEBA) allows her to survive and relaunch her business once health measures are eased.

She explained saying: "We felt government support in a somewhat complicated situation."

The loan allows her to organize the shift towards film production. After two years of hard work, she signed some important contracts that gave her a small amount of freedom.

With this money, she repaid the $30,000 she believes she owes the government in December last year. The CEBA loan allowed Anya Jamila to breathe new life into her audiovisual production business.

These feelings gave way to misunderstandings when she read in early January an email from the bank she deals with that had escaped her attention a few weeks earlier.

She was informed that she was considered ineligible for the government program. Her financial institution is demanding $10,000 that she thought was forgiven before December 31. The bank she deals with explained that it is not responsible for the decision and redirected her to the call center established by Ottawa.

Then an automated message appears telling them that decisions regarding loan eligibility are final and there is no possibility of appeal.

"I feel deceived, I feel stunned." I do not understand what is happening, [...] although I thought I did things correctly," Jamila said.

To this day, she still does not know why she was considered ineligible for the program. However, she intends to repay the $10,000 as soon as possible in order to move forward.