Briefing binder created for the Deputy Minister of Finance on the occasion of his appearance before the Standing Committee on Public Accounts on December 9, 2024 on the Auditor General of Canada's report 8, entitled “Canada Emergency Business Account” - Annex A

Department of Finance Appearance at the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (December 4, 2024)

The Standing Committee on Public Accounts (PACP) has a core mandate to study all reports of the Auditor General of Canada, as provided for in the Standing Orders of the House of Commons. Generally, the committee seeks to hold the government to account for effective public administration and due regard for public funds rather than focusing on the outcomes of government policies.
On December 2, 2024, the Auditor General is expected to table performance audit reports to the House of Commons, which include a report on the Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA). On the same day, the Auditor General is expected to appear at PACP to discuss the whole series of reports.

December 4, 2024, will be the first meeting on the CEBA performance audit report. PACP has invited the Auditor General to appear again along with the Deputy Minister of Finance and representatives from Export Development Canada (EDC). While PACP normally holds 1-3 meetings per report, the committee has initiated long term studies on certain issues raised by the Auditor General. At this time, it is to be determined whether the committee will hold subsequent meetings on the CEBA.
All opposition parties were supportive of CEBA and other COVID-19 relief measures at the time they were introduced during the pandemic given the critical need to support Canadians at that time. However, many MPs have since raised concerns about the government's management of the program, transparency, repayment timelines, and larger impacts on small businesses and the economy overall (e.g., bankruptcies).

At its launch, the CPC supported the CEBA as a means of helping small businesses faced with significant financial pressures during the pandemic. However, members expressed concern at that time about perceived gaps in the program, advocating to remove the requirement for a qualifying business to have a business account and to expand the initial eligibility criteria to agricultural, Indigenous-owned, and certain small businesses.
The CPC has remained critical of the government's overall management of the CEBA. More recently, members have stated that not extending the repayment period "punished" small businesses as they recover financially from pandemic shutdowns and periods of high inflation. This argument has been coupled with concerns about affordability, government spending, and taxation more broadly.
MP Kelly McCauley (Edmonton West) has been vocal in his dissatisfaction with the government's administration of COVID-19 support programs. During past appearances at PACP, he questioned the Department of Finance on ineligible payments and the lack of support for taxpayers for the CEBA and the Canada Emergency Response Benefit.
Moreover, CPC members have questioned the government's proposal to refocus spending, arguing that reductions should not be lapsed into pandemic benefits not being paid out.

The Bloc was initially supportive of most COVID-19 relief measures, including the CEBA, to provide financial relief and certainty to Canadians and small businesses amid the pandemic. At that time, members questioned whether the CEBA was an appropriate vehicle to help businesses since the loans may increase their debt.
Over the past two years, the Bloc has advocated for a permanent extension of the CEBA loan repayment period as a means of supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Members believe that many SMEs risk bankruptcy because of financial pressures brought on by pandemic shutdowns and the need to repay the loan within the prescribed timeline. They have been critical of the government's perceived lack of flexibility to assess repayments on a case-by-case basis and may ask for the number of bankruptcies of SMEs stemming from the repayment.

MP Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné (Terrebonne) is expected to reiterate concerns that Crown corporations are not subject to the same transparency standards as federal departments. She has argued against using Crown corporations to fund government activities because they are not subject to the "same level of transparency and disclosure standards as the rest of government."
MP Sinclair-Desgagné has been critical of the CEBA's management, questioning EDC's decision to award a non-competitive contract to Accenture to manage the program as well as the rationale for not disclosing the contract publicly. She has raised additional questions about Accenture's role and whether government funds were used appropriately because financial institutions administered the CEBA.

In 2020, the NDP strongly supported the CEBA to support small businesses during the pandemic. At that time, members called on the government to increase the loan by $20,000 as well as expand the eligibility criteria to entrepreneurs, start-ups, and other businesses that did not originally qualify for the program. The NDP also advocated for making small business loans available through the CEBA.
Since 2021, the NDP has regularly called on the government to extend the CEBA loan repayment and partial loan forgiveness period as a way to support small businesses recovering from the pandemic. However, members have been critical of the government's perceived lack of flexibility when the deadline was extended by 18 days, arguing that the time was insufficient for businesses to repay the loans.
In October 2023, Don Davies (Vancouver Kingsway) tabled motion M-99, Extension of the Canada Emergency Benefit Account Loan Forgiveness Deadline, which sought to extend the CEBA loan forgiveness deadline until December 31, 2024. The motion was never voted on. At the request of another MP, the Parliamentary Budget Officer released a legislative costing note on M-99, which estimated this extension would cost $907 million.
The NDP is therefore expected to question how the economic impact of the loan forgiveness compares to business bankruptcies and closures.

2025-04-08