Feb 8, 2024
Tourism and Hospitality Businesses Call for New Federal Loan Program
TIAC, TIABC, and its provincial/territorial counterparts are calling for a specific tourism and hospitality loan program to help struggling businesses that are having difficulty repaying their CEBA loans.
In a letter sent to Hon. Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance earlier this week, the respective organizations requested the urgent implementation of a new Federal Tourism and Hospitality Loan Program (FTHLP) that would provide for full repayment of CEBA and be restricted to businesses that were eligible for the highly targeted Tourism Hospitality Recovery Program.
TIAC, TIABC, and its provincial/territorial counterparts are calling for a specific tourism and hospitality loan program to help struggling businesses that are having difficulty repaying their CEBA loans.
In a letter sent to Hon. Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance earlier this week, the respective organizations requested the urgent implementation of a new Federal Tourism and Hospitality Loan Program (FTHLP) that would provide for full repayment of CEBA and be restricted to businesses that were eligible for the highly targeted Tourism Hospitality Recovery Program.
The organizations believe there is considerable public interest in developing a financially responsible and viable solution for operators that are under financial distress. The letter stresses it is critical that measures be put in place as soon as possible, and certainly before the new CEBA deadline of March 28, 2024.
This program is meant to be targeted only to operators in the tourism and hospitality sector and only to those holding a CEBA loan with an outstanding balance as of March 29, 2024. Further, the group proposes the FTHLP be structured as a five-year term loan, bearing variable interest locked to the Bank of Canada’s Prime Rate.
The letter concludes by summarizing the many positive outcomes of a new program.
