Over the weekend, the Canadian government passed Bill C-14, the COVID-19 Emergency Response Act, No. 2, which included the much-anticipated Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS). Originally announced as a subsidy to cover 75 per cent of an employee’s wages, up to $847 per week, for employers of all sizes and across all sectors who have suffered a drop in gross revenues of at least 30 per cent, the qualifying drop has been adjusted to 15
per cent for March, and 30 per cent in April and May, making the funds available to more employers. To determine their qualification, employers may compare their revenue of March, April and May 2020 to that of the same month
of 2019 or, in order to provide added flexibility, to an average of their revenue earned in January and February 2020. Once an employer is found eligible for a specified period, they automatically qualify for the next period of the program. According to the Department of Finance, the reduction of the 30 per cent benchmark to 15 for March recognizes that many businesses did not begin to be affected by the crisis until partway through the month.
The program will be in place for a 12-week period, from March 15 to June 6, 2020. Employers eligible for the CEWS are entitled to receive a 100 per cent refund for certain employer contributions to Employment Insurance, the Canada Pension Plan, the Quebec Pension Plan, and the Quebec Parental Insurance Plan paid in respect of employees who are on leave with pay.
For employers that are eligible for both the CEWS and the 10 per cent Temporary Wage Subsidy for a period, any benefit from the Temporary 10 per cent Wage Subsidy for remuneration paid in a specified period will generally reduce the amount available to be claimed under the CEWS in that same period. Eligible employers can apply for the CEWS through the Canada Revenue Agency’s My Business Account portal, which CRA has yet to set up. In order to access the portal, a company will first need to register a My Business Account with CRA, however. This is a twostep process, and could take up to 10 days to complete. The first step includes entering a social insurance number by the applicant, info from their personal tax return, and answers five security questions. Canada Revenue Agency will then mail a security code to complete Step 2. In additional job funding news, last week Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced temporary changes to the Canada Summer Jobs program that will increase the program’s wage subsidy to 100 per cent of the provincial or territorial minimum hourly wage for each employee.
In previous years, private and public sector employers were only eligible to receive a wage subsidy of up to 50 per cent of the provincial or territorial minimum wage. The Government of Canada has earmarked $263 million in funding for the Canada Summer Jobs program in 2020. Applications by employers closed at the end of February, with approved jobs set to be announced in May. Employers whose applications end up being approved this year will
have some additional flexibility under the revised program. For example, the end date for employment has been extended from the end of August to as late as February 28, 2021, and positions may now be part-time, rather than full-time, in nature. Available jobs will be posted on the Job Bank website and app.
Source : Mechanical Business
