Canada announces big changes to Emergency Wage Subsidy

The Government of Canada formulated a COVID-19 Economic Response Plan to help the Canadian economy recover more rapidly. As a part of this plan, Canada launched a Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) program to support business owners and reduce job losses.  In recent days, the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, has announced to extend the emergency wage subsidy policy until the end of this year. Trudeau believes that this program will help to ensure “greater certainty and support” to business owners in Canada.  Several people lost their jobs during the coronavirus lockdown. To help and support all such people and make them self-sustained quickly, the federal government took the step of introducing the CEWS program in March this year. The CEWS was extended by 12 weeks in May. Now, this is the second time that the government has decided to run this program until December. 

The role of CEWS

The Emergency Wage Subsidy was initiated by the government to strengthen the businesses financially and relieve burdens on small businesses that are affected due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  This program aims to reduce job losses and support businesses to rehire laid-off workers. Through this program, eligible businesses can get a 75% wage subsidy, that is, up to $847 weekly.  Businesses and non-profit organizations can claim the subsidy if their revenue is reduced by 30%. In March this year, even a 15% drop in the revenue made businesses eligible to claim the subsidy.  However, the eligibility requirements for the wage subsidy program do not allow several businesses to get access to this program. Therefore, the government has assured that the eligibility conditions will be lessened in the coming times.  As per the data, the federal government has already spent more than $18 billion for the CEWS. Further, the program received nearly 587,060 applications for subsidy claims and 581,800 applications were approved for the CEWS. So, 99.1 percent of applicants successfully received the subsidy through this program.  In addition, Canada has also increased the budget for the Emergency Wage Subsidy. The new budget is $82.3 billion, while the original proposed budget was $45 billion only.  The federal government has also intended to introduce a “safe restart program” in the provinces and territories of Canada. 

The future ahead

Canada is now on the path of economic revival; many people have returned to their work and many others have started searching for a job. Moreover, in the last two months, 1.24 million jobs were lined up and the unemployment rates were reduced significantly.  The extension of the CEWS will turn out to be a good move taken by the federal government. As a result, immigrants can expect a good job market in Canada.  Also, Canada has restarted the all-program express entry draws. So, skilled workers can get a good opportunity to immigrate to Canada. Find out if you are eligible for any Canadian immigration programs