This Toronto gym owner got $250,000 in aid and says he needs more. But are subsidies just keeping ‘zombie’ businesses alive?

Two weeks ago, Hugo Croft-Levesque was staring down imminent bankruptcy for his once-thriving Toronto kick-boxing gyms.

“As part of a healthy economy, there has to be business failure,” said David Macdonald, senior economist with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.Pre-pandemic, Croft-Levesque’s kick-boxing venture was booming — he brought in an impressive $55,000 to $60,000 in revenue per month, having put in the hard work for years to make his business profitable.

Zombie businesses and their ability to persist aren’t proof government aid was too generous, said Corinne Pohlmann, senior vice-president of national affairs for the Canadian Federation of Independent Business — it’s not easy to figure out which businesses are doomed to fail, especially in a time of immediate need.

The Canada Emergency Business Account , a partially nonrepayable loan, has given out almost $50 billion. The Highly Affected Sectors Credit Availability Program , another $2.8 billion in loans. When it does, it won’t be a tsunami so much as a slow trickle, said Louis — insolvency takes time, and lenders right now are being lenient because of the pandemic.

Government subsidies have targeted the biggest costs for businesses — rent and staffing — but they’re going into debt over other costs such as equipment, insurance and supplies, at an average of“I think we have a responsibility to think about how we might help deal with that debt.” The government did a good job of pivoting and updating programs as the pandemic dragged on, she said, but a new approach is needed, as many businesses are going to have difficulty paying back the debt they owe to the government and other lenders.

just open everything the fuck up ans stop this mandate shite for what at this point is a bad cold

This would have been so much simpler if businesses owners who were forced to close had their mortgages/rents suspended and collected cerb like everyone else put out of work. Banks and landlords would lose nothing and the employees could all collect cerb too.

ZOMBIE BUSINESSES…oh my god is this what we’re calling the hard work of citIzens that has been stripped away by unethical mandates

You can either give aid, or lift restrictions.

Couldn’t the business survive based on its customers? If I start a business that fails, who in gov’t would I have to convince to pay me to pretend I’m contributing something useful?

I have a typewriter business. Nobody buys typewriters anymore. I demand aid from the government.

Can you talk about government workers who had the easy street over the pandemic as well! Lots of privilege in those ranks!

2021 was a record low year for bankruptcies. Yet everything was closed. You tell me.

Anybody want to guess why house prices doubled during the pandemic? Spike in people driving luxury cars. It’s pandemic aid, not CERB. Business got free money no strings attached. Construction company bosses in particular made a fortune

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