CORONAVIRUS – GOVERNMENT MEASURES

GOVERNMENT MEASURES – COVID-19

BENEFITS AND TAX CREDITS

• We encourage you to file your income tax and benefit return electronically and as early as possible before June 1, 2020, to make sure your benefits and credits are not interrupted.
• You are encouraged to register for direct deposit on CRA’s My Account self-service portal, as this is the quickest and most reliable way to get benefit and credit payments.

EMERGENCY CARE BENEFIT:

Up to $900 bi-weekly, for up to 15 weeks. This flat-payment Benefit would provide income support to:

•  Workers, including the self-employed, who are quarantined or sick with COVID-19 but do not qualify for EI sickness benefits.
• Workers, including the self-employed, who are taking care of a family member who is sick with COVID-19, such as an elderly parent, but do not qualify for EI sickness benefits.
• Parents with children who require care or supervision due to school closures, and are unable to earn employment income, irrespective of whether they qualify for EI or not.

Application for the Benefit will be available in April 2020 and require Canadians to attest that they meet the eligibility requirements. They will need to re-attest every two weeks to reconfirm their eligibility. Canadians will select one of three channels to apply for the Benefit:

• by accessing it on their CRA My Account secure portal;
• by accessing it from their secure My Service Canada Account; or
•  calling a toll free number equipped with an automated application process.

EMERGENCY SUPPORT BENEFIT:

The Emergency Support Benefit will provide up to $5.0 billion in support to workers who are not eligible for EI and who are facing unemployment.

GOODS AND SERVICES TAX CREDIT:

The Government is proposing to provide a one-time special payment by early May 2020 through the GSTC. This will double the maximum annual GSTC payment amounts for the 2019-20 benefit year.

The average boost to income for those benefitting from this measure will be close to $400 for single individuals and close to $600 for couples. This measure will inject $5.5 billion into the economy.

CANADA CHILD BENEFIT:

The Government is proposing to increase the maximum annual CCB payment amounts, only for the 2019-20 benefit year, by $300 per child.

The overall increase for families receiving CCB will be approximately $550 on average; these families will receive an extra $300 per child as part of their May payment. In total, this measure will deliver almost $2 billion in extra support.

EMPLOYMENT INSURANCE: SICKNESS BENEFIT

• Employment Insurance (EI) sickness benefits provide up to 15 weeks of income replacement and is available to eligible claimants who are unable to work because of illness, injury or quarantine, to allow them time to restore their health and return to work. Canadians quarantined can apply for Employment Insurance (EI) sickness benefits.

If you are eligible, visit the EI sickness benefits page to apply.

Service Canada is ready to support Canadians affected by COVID-19 and placed in quarantine, with the following support actions:

• The one-week waiting period for EI sickness benefits will be waived for new claimants who are quarantined so they can be paid for the first week of their claim
• Establishing a new dedicated toll-free phone number to support enquiries related to waiving the EI sickness benefits waiting period
• People claiming EI sickness benefits due to quarantine will not have to provide a medical certificate
• People who cannot complete their claim for EI sickness benefits due to quarantine may apply later and have their EI claim backdated to cover the period of delay

Important: If you are directly affected by the COVID-19 because you are sick or quarantined and you have not yet applied for EI benefits, please submit your application before contacting us. This will allow us to better serve you and prevent delays in establishing your claim.

If you have already completed the application for EI sickness benefits whether you are sick or quarantined and would like to have the one-week waiting period waived, call the new toll-free phone number below. It is important to note that no other request will be actioned on this phone line. We will take action only for sick or quarantined clients affected by the COVID-19 for which the application for sickness benefits has been filed.

• Telephone: 1-833-381-2725 (toll-free)
• Teletypewriter (TTY): 1-800-529-3742

If you are experiencing symptoms such as cough, fever, difficulty breathing or you are in self-isolation or quarantine, do not visit or enter any Service Canada office.  As an alternative, you may access our services online or by calling 1 800 O-Canada.

EMPLOYMENT INSURANCE: REGULAR BENEFIT

• When the employee is no longer working due to a shortage of work because the business has closed or decreased operations due to coronavirus (COVID-19), use code A (Shortage of work). Do not add comments.

TO APPLY: EI REGULAR BENEFIT

EMPLOYMENT INSURANCE: WORK-SHARING PROGRAM

The Government of Canada has put in place Work-Sharing (WS) temporary special measures for employers affected by the downturn in business due to COVID-19.

These measures extend the duration of Work-Sharing agreements by an additional 38 weeks, for a total of 76 weeks. The mandatory waiting period has also been waived so that employers with a recently expired agreement may immediately apply for a new agreement, without waiting between applications and ease Recovery Plan requirements for the duration of the WS agreement.

COVID-19 (2019 novel coronavirus)

Temporary special measures are effective March 15, 2020 to March 14, 2021.

Eligibility

You are eligible to apply if you are experiencing a downturn in business activity related to the global outbreak of COVID-19, and have:

• WS agreements signed between March 15, 2020 and March 13, 2021
• WS agreements that began, or ended between March 15, 2020 and March 14, 2021, and
• WS agreements that ended between June 23, 2019, and March 14, 2020 and are in their mandatory cooling-off period

How to apply

**Please refer to the WS Applicant guide for the temporary special measures  for more information on how to complete your application.**