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Financial and economic support during COVID-19 pandemic: Federal updates

To support Canadian businesses and individuals facing financial hardship as a result of the health and economic fallout from the global COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government has been taking action. Find out how.

Since March 2020, the federal government has announced a series of economic measures to help stabilize the economy and address the widespread fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Some of the key measures in Canada’s COVID-19 Economic Response Plan that are still active include:

  • the Canada Recovery Benefit (CRB), which provides $500 per week for up to 26 weeks for workers who have stopped working or had their income reduced by at least 50 per cent due to COVID-19, and who are not eligible for Employment Insurance (EI)
  • the Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit (CRSB), which provides $500 per week for up to two weeks for workers who are unable to work for at least 50 per cent of the week because they contracted COVID-19 or are self-isolating due to COVID-19
  • the Canada Recovery Caregiving Benefit (CRCB), which provides $500 per week for up to 26 weeks per household for workers:
    • unable to work for at least 50 per cent of the week because they must care for a child under the age of 12 or family member because schools, day-cares or care facilities are closed due to COVID-19
    • because the child or family member is sick and/or required to quarantine or is at high risk of serious health implications because of COVID-19
  • the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS), which helps employers that experienced revenue declines due to COVID-19 cover wages, re-hire terminated employees, prevent further job losses and facilitate normal operations – and is available until June 2021
  • the Business Credit Availability Program (BCAP) Guarantee for Canadian small and mid-sized businesses to help cover payroll and operating costs during a period where revenues have been temporarily reduced due to the COVID-19 pandemic
  • the Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA), which provides interest-free, partially forgivable loans of up to $60,000 to small businesses and not-for-profits that have experienced diminished revenues due to COVID-19 but face ongoing non-deferrable costs, such as rent, utilities, insurance, taxes and wages
  • the Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy (CERS), which provides support to businesses, non-profit organizations, or charities who have seen a drop in revenue due to the COVID-19 pandemic – support is provided as a subsidy to cover part of their commercial rent or property expenses, starting on September 27, 2020, until June 2021 (lockdown support may also be available)

View the federal government’s COVID-19 Economic Response Plan for more details.

For information on tax-related issues, please see our federal government COVID-19 tax updates page.

This summary is current as of January 6, 2021.

Other recent federal government measures:

Bill C-4: An Act relating to certain measures in response to COVID-19 (Received Royal Assent on October 2, 2020)

Bill C-9: An Act to amend the Income Tax Act (Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy and Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy) (Received Royal Assent on November 19, 2020)

Bill C-14: An Act to implement certain provisions of the economic statement tabled in Parliament on November 30, 2020 and other measures (Introduction and First Reading in the House of Commons on December 2, 2020)