Canada’s last remaining COVID-19 emergency benefits expire today and the federal government says it has no plans to renew its unprecedented support programs, created in response to the pandemic.
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s office says Canada’s surging job growth and record-low unemployment rate is evidence that ongoing pandemic support will not be needed beyond May 7.
“From the onset of the pandemic, our relentless focus was on jobs — on keeping Canadians employed and on keeping their employers afloat,” Freeland’s press secretary Adrienne Vaupshas said in an email.
“With our economy in this position, the time for extraordinary COVID support is now over,” Vaupshas added, echoing a declaration made by Freeland during her introduction of the 2022 budget in April.
Public health officials are also saying they’re cautiously optimistic about signs that transmission levels are on the decline.
During a Friday news conference, Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam said Canada is experiencing “decreasing transmission in many areas.” Some indicators, such as wastewater virus levels, indicate that the Omicron wave is “showing signs of a potential plateau,” Tam added.
‘Our ability to spend is not infinite. The time for extraordinary COVID support is over,’ said Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland on April 7. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press)
The expiration of benefits means workers will no longer be paid by the government should they need to self-isolate due to a positive COVID test, or if they have to leave work to care for a child due to sickness or pandemic-related school closures.
A program for workers forced off the job due to local lockdowns also ends today.
Programs designed to support hard-hit businesses, such as one that subsidized a portion of employee wages, are also ending.
The following programs are among those expiring on May 7:
Canada Worker Lockdown Benefit
Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit
Canada Recovery Caregiving Benefit
Canada Recovery Hiring Program
Tourism and Hospitality Recovery Program
Hardest-Hit Business Recovery Program
Applications for these programs can be made retroactively and will continue to be accepted by the government after May 7. Those applying for workers’ benefits have 60 days to submit their claims, while businesses have 180 days.
Workers still ‘live and exist in a pandemic’
Alyse Stuart, a union representative for the Fish, Food and Allied Workers in Newfoundland and Labrador, said Ottawa’s decision to end the benefits ignores the pandemic’s continued disruption of Atlantic Canada’s fishing sector.
She described a wave of infections running through processing plants that are just now ramping up for the busy summer season.
Most workers in these facilities don’t have access to paid sick days, Stuart said, which is forcing them into a difficult choice between self-isolating and missing paycheques or going to work while sick.
“For us, it’s kind of this perfect storm where these benefits are ending while we’re just experiencing our own wave in these rural communities,” Stuart told CBC News.
“For our members, and certainly for our rural communities, the time is still now for extraordinary measures because we continue to live and exist in a pandemic.”
Small businesses struggling with debt
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business is also warning that the end of business-focused supports could make it hard for struggling businesses to get back on their feet.
“Whether the supports that end this weekend are still the right supports is probably a good debate that we can have,” said Corinne Pohlmann, senior vice president of national affairs at CFIB.
Only 40 per cent of small businesses have returned to pre-pandemic revenue levels, said Corinne Pohlmann, vice president of national affairs at the Canadian Federation of Independent Business. (Candian Federation of Independent Business)
She said the expiration of benefits today may be appropriate, but she called on Ottawa to consider further long-term support for businesses that have accumulated large amounts of debt during the pandemic.
The group specifically wants to see Ottawa forgive half of all debt acquired through the Canada Emergency Business Account program and to extend the repayment deadline by an extra year to December 31, 2023.
The average small business debt now stands at $140,000, according to CFIB figures, and businesses in sectors like the arts and hospitality are even deeper in the red.
“We need to still think about how we can help those hard-hit businesses that are struggling under debt that they had to accumulate through no fault of their own,” Pohlmann said.
KITCHENER, Ont. – Prosecutors are arguing a man who stabbed a professor and two students in a University of Waterloo gender studies class last year should face a lengthy sentence because of the attack’s lasting impact on campus safety and security.
Federal prosecutor Althea Francis says a sentence in the upper range is appropriate not only because Geovanny Villalba-Aleman wanted to send a message about his views but also because he sought to make those with different beliefs feel unsafe.
The Crown has said it is seeking a sentence of 16 years for Villalba-Aleman, who pleaded guilty to four charges in the June 2023 campus attack.
The sentencing hearing for Villalba-Aleman began Monday and is expected to continue all week.
Federal prosecutors argued Tuesday that Villalba-Aleman’s statement to police, and a manifesto that was found on his phone, show his actions were motivated by ideology and meant to intimidate a segment of the population.
Villalba-Aleman pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated assault, one count of assault with a weapon and one count of assault causing bodily harm.
A video of his statement to police was shown in court earlier in the sentencing hearing.
In the video, Villalba-Aleman told police he felt colleges and universities were imposing ideology and restricting academic freedom, and he wanted the attack to serve as a “wake-up call.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 23, 2024.
OTTAWA – The Bank of Canada cut its key policy interest rate by 50 basis points on Wednesday to bring it to 3.75 per cent. Here’s what people are saying about the decision:
“High inflation and interest rates have been a heavy burden for Canadians. With inflation now back to target and interest rates continuing to come down, families, businesses and communities should feel some relief.” — Tiff Macklem, Bank of Canada governor.
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“Activity in Canada’s housing market has been sluggish in many regions due to higher borrowing costs, but today’s more aggressive cut to lending rates could cause the tide to turn quickly. For those with variable rate mortgages – who will benefit from the rate drop immediately – or those with fast-approaching loan renewals, today’s announcement is welcome news indeed.” — Phil Soper, president and CEO of Royal LePage.
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“This won’t be the end of rate cuts. Even with the succession of policy cuts since June, rates are still way too high given the state of the economy. To bring rates into better balance, we have another 150 bps in cuts pencilled in through 2025. So while the pace of cuts going forward is now highly uncertain, the direction for rates is firmly downwards.” — James Orlando, director and senior economist at TD Bank.
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“The size of the December rate cut will depend on upcoming job and inflation data, but a 25 basis point cut remains our baseline.” — Tu Nguyen, economist with assurance, tax and consultancy firm RSM Canada.
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“Today’s outsized rate cut is mostly a response to the heavy-duty decline in headline inflation in the past few months. However, the underlying forecast and the Bank’s mild tone suggest that the future default moves will be 25 bp steps, unless growth and/or inflation surprise again to the downside.” — Douglas Porter, chief economist at Bank of Montreal.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 23, 2024.
