You had to know that the federal emergency assistance to business during the pandemic would eventually exhibit knock-on effects.
One of the best barometers to understand underlying trends in the economy is the quarterly Equifax Canada report on business credit trends. The latest one last week featured some worrisome economic information. In B.C., we had the sharpest increase anywhere in Canada in late-term or 60-plus-day delinquencies: a 7.5-per-cent year-over-year increase that moved the total to about six per cent. Historically that means a three-fold likelihood of 90-plus-day delinquencies.
Jeff Brown, Equifax Canada’s head of commercial solutions, notes: “There isn’t a silver lining in their future.” He doesn’t share the senior government narrative of business being on the mend, much less thriving.