The Canada Enterprise Emergency Funding Corp. (CEEFC) has announced Sunwing Vacations and Sunwing Airlines have been given access to $375 million of liquidity to protect jobs in Canada's airline sector with a loan under Large Employer Emergency Financing Facility (LEEFF).
Sunwing Airlines and Sunwing Vacations together provide almost 3,000 Canadians with full-time jobs.
Canadian airlines have been in talks with Ottawa since November 8 about sector-specific financial assistance, and this appears to be the first announcement of its kind. Air Canada and Transat officials last night said they have no similar news to announce at this time. WestJet officiails could not be reached for immediate comment.
Sunwing has agreed to maintain an account with money received from customers for travel that was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This account will be maintained until the government's broader discussions with the airline industry conclude and a policy is established for the treatment of these prepaid amounts.
LEEFF loans provide bridge financing to Canada's largest employers whose needs during the pandemic are not being met through private market financing. It provides large Canadian employers with access to credit to preserve jobs and continue operations during this challenging period.
Other applications for LEEFF financing are currently under consideration. To protect the financial interests of taxpayers, rigorous due diligence and the collaboration of existing lenders is required.
CEEFC maintains an updated list of approved LEEFF loans, which can be found at https://www.ceefc-cfuec.ca/approved-loans/.
Key terms of the LEEFF loan facility can be found at https://www.ceefc-cfuec.ca/leeff-factsheet/.
A full press release can be found here.
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