Royal Bank of Canada has approved more than $2 billion in emergency loans to small businesses since last week, but some business owners say the system set up by the bank has left them unable to apply for the government’s Canada Emergency Business Account loans even though they meet the qualifications.

“I am desperately in need of the CEBA but … they are not making it available,” said Michael Pancer, president of Pancers Original Deli, a restaurant that banks with RBC.

Pancer said his north Toronto deli, whose roots date back to 1957, meets all the criteria — including having a payroll of $50,000 and documentation from the Canada Revenue Agency — but when he logged in to his online business account, he was not given access to the application.

“We have tried for the last week to apply” he told the Post, including spending close to two hours on hold on the phone before someone at RBC told him they would be sending an email so he can apply. Pancer said the email had not arrived by mid-day Wednesday.

Pancer said he is still paying staff despite a sharp decline in revenue as his business, along with many others, is severely limited in the service it can offer amid efforts to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.

“My sales are down 60 per cent,” he said, adding that he is disappointed he has been unable to access funds to support his “all-Canadian small business.”