Question Period Note: SME SUPPORT FOR EMPLOYEES DURING COVID-19

How is the Government of Canada helping small and medium-sized businesses support their employees?

• Canada’s COVID-19 Economic Response Plan has protected millions of jobs, provided emergency support to families, and kept businesses afloat throughout the pandemic.

• The Government of Canada introduced a number of relief measures to help small and medium-sized businesses support their employees during the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Budget 2021 extends employee supports through to the fall, supports almost 500,000 new training and work opportunities, and keeps Canada on track to create one million jobs by the end of the year.

• The government is also creating the Canada Recovery Hiring Program to help businesses hire more workers as the economy reopens.

Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS)
The CEWS was introduced to prevent further job losses, encourage employers to rehire workers previously laid off as a result of COVID-19, and help better position Canadian companies and other employers to more easily resume normal operations following the crisis. The maximum wage subsidy rate was raised to 75 per cent for the period beginning December 20, 2020. Budget 2021 proposes to extend the subsidy until September 25, 2021. It also proposes to gradually decrease the subsidy rate, beginning July 4, 2021. The CEWS has protected over 5.3 million jobs and helped businesses, charities and non-profits re-hire workers throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and has provided more than $73 billion in support to the Canadian economy.

Extending Employment Insurance (EI) Work Sharing
The EI Work Sharing program, which provides benefits to workers who agree to reduce their normal working hours as a result of developments beyond the control of their employers, was extended from a maximum of 38 weeks to 76 weeks. Eligibility was also extended to include public corporations, not-for-profit organization employers, and businesses that have been in business for only 1 year (rather than 2 years).

Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB)
On April 6, 2020, the CERB was launched to help Canadians who had to stop working for reasons related to COVID-19, or who were eligible for EI regular or sickness benefits. The government transitioned to a simplified EI program, effective September 27, 2020, to provide income support to those who remain unable to work and are eligible, and introduced a new suite of temporary and taxable recovery benefits to further support workers.

Canada Recovery Benefit (CRB)
The CRB opened on October 12, 2020, giving income support to Canadians who are not employed or self-employed individuals who are directly affected by COVID-19 and are not entitled to EI benefits. To continue to support workers through a transition away from emergency income supports and position Canadians for the recovery, the government proposes to provide up to 12 additional weeks of CRB to a maximum of 50 weeks. The first four of these additional 12 weeks will be paid at $500 per week. As the economy reopens over the coming months, the government intends that the remaining 8 weeks of this extension will be paid at a lower amount of $300 per week claimed. To date, 14.4 million Canadians have been approved to receive this benefit.

Canada Recovery Caregiving Benefit (CRCB)
The new CRCB gives income support to employed and self-employed individuals who are unable to work because they must care for their child under 12 years old or a family member who needs supervised care. This applies if their school, regular program or facility is closed or unavailable to them due to COVID-19, or because they are sick, self-isolating, or at risk of serious health complications due to COVID-19.

Budget 2021 also proposes to extend the CRCB an additional 4 weeks, to a maximum of 42 weeks, at $500 per week, in the event that caregiving options, particularly for those supporting children, are not sufficiently available in the interim as the economy begins to safely reopen.

Budget 2021 proposes legislative amendments to provide authority for additional potential extensions of the CRB and its associated suite of sickness and caregiving benefits, as well as regular EI benefits until no later than November 20, 2021, should they be needed.

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