05 May How is the 2021 Federal Budget affecting Canadian employees?
Ontario Employment Lawyer: How is the 2021 Federal Budget affecting employees?
Many employees over the past year have struggled to maintain a steady job, and the new Federal Budget has responded to the current reality of the continued spread of the COVID-19 virus. According to the Government of Canada, low-wage workers are most targeted by the pandemic, as 268,000 low wage workers have lost their jobs in 2020 and are six times more likely to lose their job compared to wealthier Canadians. The 2021 Federal Budget has responded to these numbers and created a plan to help workers as much as possible during such unpredictable times.
Benefits with Employment Insurance
Employment Insurance Benefits (EI) will be available until August 28, 2021, which offer a simple and easy entrance to receiving such benefits. According to the 2021 Federal Budget, EI is currently offering:
- Access to EI benefits sooner because of the new simplified rules for things like severance pay,
- New modifications to the Work-Sharing program will be maintained to limit job loss,
- Support for workers with multiple jobs or workers switching jobs,
- And access to EI benefits across regions that includes a “420-hour entrance for both regular and special benefits, a 14-week minimum entitlement for regular benefits, and common earnings threshold for fishing benefits”.
Recovery Benefits
Recovery benefits are temporary benefits accessible for any workers who do not qualify for EI benefits. These benefits are the Canada Recovery Benefit (CRB), the Canada Recovery Caregiving Benefit (CRCB), and the Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit (CRSB). Access to Recovery Benefits have been extended to help employees get over the next big hurdle of lockdown and recover from these circumstances.
CRB has added 12 weeks onto 38 weeks (scheduled to end June 19, 2021) which gives employees 50 weeks of payment. The payment that will be provided for CRB is $500 for the first four weeks, $300 for the additional weeks, and an even lower rate starting July 17, 2021. For CRCB, four weeks have been added making the total time 42 weeks to receive $500 per week.
All benefits extended by the Government of Canada expire November 20, 2021, and there will be no benefits added after September 25, 2021.
If you have any questions about how the Federal Budget impacts you as an employee, or what benefits you may receive, please contact KCY at LAW by filling in an online consultation request or contact us by phone at 905-639-0999 to book your consultation today.