In his daily address this morning, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reminded Canadians that applications for the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy have opened today.
Last month, Trudeau informed Canadians that all small and medium-sized businesses – whose revenue has decreased by 30% or more because of the COVID-19 pandemic – will be eligible for the 75% wage subsidy.
As for what this could look like for employees, the Prime Minister stated specifically that the government will offer up to 75% of salaries on the first $58,700 – this will break down to $847 per week.
The subsidy will be offered regardless of the number of employees the business has, and will be back-dated to March 15th, 2020 – businesses can apply on the CRA website.
To aid the application process, the federal government has launched a new wage subsidy calculator on the Canada Revenue Agency website, which has been set up to help businesses determine the amount of funding that they could receive.
Officials have said they expect to process around 90 per cent of applications in the first week of May, which will ensure that funds get distributed as quickly as possible – Trudeau said this morning that eligible businesses should expect to receive their first payment by May 7th.
Trudeau’s original announcement also came with a cautionary word to businesses, urging them not to misuse the program and if they can continue to pay their staff, to do so.
“Every dollar of this should go to workers,” he said.
The benefit is an increase from the is an initial announcement of only a 10% subsidy, and also comes alongside an emergency guaranteed business loan of up to $40,000 – of which $10,000 may be “forgiven”, according to Trudeau.
See all the latest updates about the global COVID-19 pandemic on Vancouver Island
The BCCDC has set up a 2019 novel coronavirus telephone information line at 1-833-784-4397 for those who have further questions about this disease.
Anyone concerned that they may have been exposed to, or are experiencing symptoms of the novel coronavirus, should contact their primary care provider, local public health office, or call 8-1-1.
The Province has also created the 1-888-COVID-19 line to connect British Columbians needing non-medical information about the coronavirus pandemic.
As of the time of publication, the total number of COVID-19 patients worldwide has risen to 3,021,049.
Over 208,000 people have died from the illness and 891,212 have made a full recovery.
