Hello everyone, welcome to the June edition of our quarterly newsletter. We will be releasing newsletters every March, June, September, and December. Today's newsletter will include updated information about the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB), and Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS). |
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The CERB was put in place to provide temporary income support to workers who were forced to stop working due to COVID-19. The CERB provides $500 per week for a maximum of 24 weeks ($2,000 per month for 6 months). Note: It was extended an additional 8 weeks, from 16 to 24 weeks, announced on June 16. If you were affected by COVID-19 and you lost work due to it, you could still be eligible to receive benefits. Individuals who are eligible for Employment Insurance regular or sickness benefits, or who have recently exhausted Employment Insurance regular or fishing benefits may also be eligible. The Benefit is available from March 15, 2020, to October 3, 2020. You can apply no later than December 2, 2020 to still receive retroactive payments. The Benefit is available to workers:
Residing in Canada, who are at least 15 years old; Who have stopped working because of reasons related to COVID-19 or are eligible for Employment Insurance regular or sickness benefits or have exhausted their Employment Insurance regular or fishing benefits between December 29, 2019 and October 3, 2020; Who had employment and/or self-employment income of at least $5,000 in 2019 or in the 12 months prior to the date of their application; and, Who have not quit their job voluntarily.
Do not forget that CERB is considered taxable income. This mean’s that the Canadian Government is not withholding tax on the $2,000 a month benefit. Come next years tax season you will be expected to include your CERB payments with your taxable income. Taxable income is any income you have made within the tax year. Both the income you receive from CERB and your place of employment will be taxed the same way. To apply for CERB click https://www.canada.ca/en/services/benefits/ei/cerb-application.html |
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The CEWS was introduced for Canadian employers whose business has been affected by COVID-19. Eligible businesses can receive a subsidy of 75% of employee wages for up to 24 weeks. This too is retroactive from March 15, 2020, to August 29, 2020. Note: The CEWS extension to August 29 was announced in May. To be eligible to receive the wage subsidy, you must: Be an eligible employer; Have experienced an eligible reduction in revenue, and Have had a CRA payroll account on March 15, 2020
And if your employee is eligible, they must: Be an individual employed in Canada by you (the eligible employer) during the claim period, except if there was a period of 14 or more consecutive days in that period in respect of which they were not paid eligible remuneration by you. Eligible remuneration is considered as “amounts you paid an employee as salary, wages and other taxable benefits, fees, and commissions. These are amounts employers would be required to make payroll deductions on to be remitted to the CRA.” (Severance pay and items such as stock option benefits or the personal use of a corporate vehicle are not part of eligible remuneration.)
Employee eligibility is based on whether the person is employed in Canada, not where they live. |
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