Canada's Economic Support for Individuals
The Government of Canada is taking action to support Canadians facing troubles due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Canada’s COVID-19 Economic Response Plan was released to support individuals, businesses and industries during the outbreak of COVID-19.
This article focus on introducing support for individuals. There are two ways that you can get support during this hard time:
Employment Insurance: if you are facing unemployment due to COVID-19 and qualify for Employment Insurance benefits, you can submit the application now.
The new Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB): The government will provide a taxable benefit of $2,000 per month for up to 4 months to qualified workers:
Residing in Canada, who are at least 15 years old;
Who have stopped working because of COVID-19 and have not voluntarily quit their job;
Who had income of at least $5,000 in 2019 or in the 12 months prior to the date of their application; and
Who are or expect to be without employment or self-employment income for at least 14 consecutive days in the initial four-week period. For subsequent benefit periods, they expect to have no employment income.According to the Canada Revenue Agency, day to apply to the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) is as the following table:
