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Available Benefits & Programs COVID-19

Dear Clients & Friends:

We at HS & Partners are constantly monitoring the evolving legislative changes and program enhancements given the  COVID-19 situation. Below are some details we hope you will find helpful.

Click Here: How to apply for Government  benefits if you are financially affected by corona virus 

 

Employment Insurance (EI):

  • Waived 1 week waiting period, for new EI claimants in quarantine (effective March 15, 2019) so they can be paid for their first week
    • They are giving priority to those in quarantine in the application process
  • Waived requiring a medical certificate to access EI
  • You need to demonstrate that:
    • You’re unable to work for medical reasons
    • Your regular weekly earnings from work have decreased by more than 40% for at least one week
    • You accumulated 600 insured hours of work in the 52 weeks before the start of your claim or since the start of your last claim, whichever is shorter
  • What employees are eligible for:
    • Up to 15 weeks of sickness benefits are available.
    • You could receive 55% of your insurable earnings* up to a maximum of $573 a week.  Click to Apply

Emergency Care Benefit:

  • For workers who are not eligible for EI including:
    • Self-employed individuals who are sick with COVID-19
    • Those who have to take care of family members who are sick
    • Those placed in quarantine
    • Parents who aren’t able to earn employment income and have kids that need to be taken care of/supervised due to school closures
  • Provides up to $900 every 2 weeks
  • Apply through  CRA MyAccount or My Service Canada Account or by phone (the number hasn’t been released yet)
    • Applications are not open until April

Emergency Support Benefit:

“The Emergency Support Benefit will give up to $5 billion to workers ineligible for EI who face unemployment. It is intended to be a long-term income support, but the government hasn’t yet said how much it will provide, or how long funds will be given out.” – CBC

Wage Subsidy for Small Business:

  • Meant to subsidies wages to prevent layoffs
  • The subsidy is equal to 10% of employee salaries, but a maximum of $1,375 per employee and $25,000 per employer
  • The subsidy is for a temporary 3 month period

Work Sharing Program:

  • Work-Sharing (WS) is an adjustment program designed to help employers and employees avoid layoffs when there is a temporary reduction in the normal level of business activity that is beyond the control of the employer.
  • The measure provides income support to employees eligible for Employment Insurance benefits who work a temporarily reduced work week while their employer recovers.
  • Work-Sharing is a three-party agreement involving employers, employees, and Service Canada. Employees on a Work-Sharing agreement
  • The maximum duration of Work-Sharing agreements from 38 weeks to 76 weeks across Canada for those businesses affected by the downturn in business due to COVID-19 must agree to a reduced schedule of work and to share the available work over a specified period of time. Click to apply

Business Credit Availability Program:

  • Will allow the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) and Export Development Canada (EDC) to provide more than $10 billion of additional support, largely targeted to small and medium-sized businesses.
  • This will be an effective tool for helping viable Canadian businesses remain resilient during these very uncertain times
  • BDC and EDC are cooperating with private-sector lenders to coordinate on credit solutions for individual businesses

Keep Healthy & Safe everyone

Regards,

Your HS & Partners Team