On March 27, Prime Minister Trudeau announced additional measures to support businesses through this time. Scotiabank, together with other leaders in the banking community, has been consulting with the government on these measures, designing them specifically to help small and medium-sized business owners with their most pressing needs and position the economy to recover.

The Canada Emergency Business Account will provide qualifying business customers and clients access to a $40,000 loan:

• 0% interest until December 31, 2022
• No principal payments until December 31, 2022
• Principal repayments can be voluntarily made at any time without fees or penalties
• $10,000 loan forgiveness is available, provided outstanding balance is $40,000 at December 31, 2020, and $30,000 is paid back between January 1, 2021 and December 31, 2022
• If balance is not paid by December 31, 2022, the remaining balance will be converted to a 3-year term loan at 5% annual interest, paid monthly, effective January 1, 2023
• The full balance must be repaid by no later than December 31, 2025.

Note: Once you are approved for the CEBA program, you will receive a deposit of $40,000 in your operating account within 5 business days, and will have a new loan displaying as “ScotiaLine for Business VISA” within online banking. Please note there is no revolving feature on this product, and once the money is repaid, you will not be able to re-advance funds again. Payments on CEBA loans will be reversed centrally on a biweekly basis.