The Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau has announced that the government of Canada will extend the period when time claimants can get several pandemic income benefits.
While making the announcement, Trudeau told reporters that the Canada Recovery Benefit (CRB), the Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit (CRSB), the Canada Recovery Caregiving Benefit (CRCB) and Employment Insurance (EI) will all witness extensions in the number of weeks that eligible recipients can receive them.
In a news release, the government said: “As some workers could begin to exhaust their benefits in late March, this increase would ensure continued support as Canada’s economy and labour force recovers.
“By increasing the number of available weeks for these important benefits, the government is giving certainty to workers in hard hit sectors and their families, and better positioning our economy to recover.”
Trudeau said: “This crisis isn’t over and neither is our support for everyone.”
The news came following federal public health officials’ presentation of new modelling that revealed that variants of the coronavirus could transmit quickly.
Also, the government will seek to shoot up the maximum period recipients can get EI regular benefits to 50 weeks, which means an extension of 24 weeks. This applies to claims that were made from September 27, 2020 toy September 25, 2021.
The changes made to EI depend on legislation receiving approval in Parliament.
CRB replaced the government’s Canada Economic Recovery Benefit (CERB) program and it is an income support program that offers $1,000 over a period of two weeks to those that don’t qualify for EI.
Recipients will have the ability to get the benefit for a maximum period of 38 weeks between September 27, 2020 and September 25, 2021 — an increment from 26 weeks.
However, recipients must reapply every two weeks to keep receiving the benefit.
