The federal government has streamlined the COVID-19 emergency benefits program and says Canadians struggling financially can now expect payments within weeks.
The application process is scheduled to open in early April, with individual income support payments amounting to about $2,000 a month expected to flow about 10 days later. The benefits will be available for four months.
The government is streamlining the financial support regime as it struggles to cope with an unprecedented volume of employment insurance claims.
The new program collapses two previously announced benefits — the Emergency Care Benefit and the Emergency Support Benefit — into one.
The Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) offers income support for up to 16 weeks to those who lose pay because of the pandemic. A government news release says the “simpler and more accessible” program will cover Canadians who lost their jobs, got sick, are under quarantine or have to stay home because of school closures.
Who qualifies for CERB?
It’s available to wage earners, contract workers and self-employed people who don’t qualify for employment insurance (EI).
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Wednesday that nearly one million people have applied for EI in the last week alone. In his daily address to the nation from his residence at Rideau Cottage, he acknowledged that many Canadians are feeling stressed about paying their bills as they lose income due to the global pandemic.
“The hard truth is people are out of work because of this crisis and worried about what comes next. So I want you to know that we’ll be there to help you. Our government is doing everything we can to be there for you,” he said.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announces that the Canada Emergency Response Benefit will provide $2,000 per month for the next four months to workers losing income as a result of COVID-19. 1:30
If the federal government determines that someone received an income support payment for which they did not qualify, they will have to repay that amount as soon as they can.
The repayment amount will be determined by the government. No interest payments would be charged on the amount owed.
How do people apply?
The online portal to apply for CERB will be available in early April, and people can expect payments within 10 days. CERB payments will be issued every four weeks, and will be available from March 15, 2020 to Oct. 3, 2020.
“The EI system was not designed to process the unprecedented high volume of applications received in the past week. Given this situation, all Canadians who have ceased working due to COVID-19, whether they are EI-eligible or not, would be able to receive the CERB to ensure they have timely access to the income support they need,” said the government news release.
Trudeau said the government is redeploying 1,300 staff from other departments to process the claims and to handle queries from Canadians.
What about those already collecting EI?
Canadians already receiving employment insurance (EI) regular benefits and sickness benefits will, as of today, continue to receive those benefits and should not apply to the CERB.
Canadians who already have applied for EI and whose application has not yet been processed don’t need to reapply.
Canadians who are eligible for regular EI and sickness benefits can still access those benefits if they’re still unemployed after the 16-week period covered by the CERB.
How much is the package worth?
The CERB is part of a suite of measures in new legislation introducing a $107-billion emergency response program. That legislation, passed by the Senate today, includes $52 billion in supports and another $55 billion in tax deferrals. It passed in the House of Commons early today after tense negotiations between the political parties.
The bill, as initially pitched, was worth about $82 billion, but Finance Minister Bill Morneau said Wednesday the price tag increased sharply to $107 billion because the new Canada Emergency Response Benefit will be available to more people.
What do businesses want from the government?
Dozens of Canadian business groups are calling on governments to make a “national effort” to protect jobs and keep essential goods moving during the COVID-19 crisis — one that would include direct income supports for laid-off employees.
In a joint statement issued Wednesday, more than 60 organizations representing a range of industries — including energy pipelines, breweries, aviation, medicines and forestry — call the proposed 10 per cent wage subsidy a “step in the right direction,” adding more must be done to help businesses and workers through the pandemic.
“Canadian businesses are ready and able to step up to overcome the challenge of COVID-19. We will work to ensure that Canadians have the food to feed their families, the fuel to heat our homes and to keep essential services moving, the equipment and facilities to treat the sick and the communications systems that unite us even as we are kept apart from one another,” reads the statement released by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce.
“To win this fight, we need every possible human and financial resource and we must be able to focus all of our attention on this struggle.”
The groups want governments to provide more direct funding for employees, and point to other countries that have offered to cover as much as 80 per cent of the incomes of employees whose jobs are threatened by the health emergency.
“We encourage the government to backstop the economy by implementing income supports at similar levels as Denmark and the United Kingdom,” the statement reads.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau briefed reporters at his daily COVID-19 media availability outside Rideau Cottage 27:32
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
