Saskatoon pet-care business hopeful for federal CEBA loan extension

Upon entering Furbaby Pet Care’s 24-hour facility, you’re met with the sound of energetic dogs playing.

The Saskatoon business has come a long way since it opened before the COVID-19 pandemic.

But is hasn’t always been easy.

“When everything closed, we did go down to a 12-hour shift because there wasn’t the customers to be able to stay open or justify staying open 24 hours,” said owner and founder Jocelyn Davey-Hawreluik.

“I also had to lay off all my staff, so I did it all myself.”

During the pandemic, many small businesses took advantage of the Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA) federal loan, and repayment is due at the end of this year. Furbaby is just one of many local businesses wanting to see an extension to that deadline.

“This loan coming up, it’s going to affect the business in the fact that we’re going to be struggling,” said Davey-Hawreluik. “We won’t have extra (money) in that time frame.”

The Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses (CFIB) has projected that as many as 8,000 small businesses in Saskatchewan are at risk of closing due to the inability to repay their CEBA loans.

Furbaby is back to being a 24-hour care centre, Davey-Hawreluik said. The facility offers pet daycare, boarding services, in-home dog-walking visits and grooming.

Davey-Hawreluik said she is trying to keep costs low in order to save for the coming loan repayment, but with minimum wages going up and inflation making pet products more expensive, she said things will be tight.

“We’re stuck,” said Davey-Hawreluik. “We’re stuck because of the economies that we’re in, having to pay the CEBA back, the expenses. Everything’s just so expensive.”

The CFIB and many small businesses are advocating for a year-long extension on the CEBA loan repayments. That would be the federal government’s second time extending the deadline.

Davey-Hawreluik said for her business, one more year could make all the difference.

“If we could extend the CEBA one more year to get our feet underneath us, or give a living wage and make it relate to the prices, it would just all help out,” she said.